Hyderabad: A symposium on ‘Preservation of Urdu in Telangana’ was held on Saturday, January 25, here which was presided by Tehreek Muslim Shabban (TMS) president Mohammed Mushtaq Malik. Discussing the current state as well as the future of the Urdu language in Telangana, participants expressed concerns over how the language is taught in schools.
Prominent figures like Dr Qutubuddin Quadri, a psychiatrist, and Aziz Pasha, former ex-Rajya Sabha MP, were also called in as special guests. The discussion commenced with the chief editor of the Urdu newspaper Gawah Dr Syed Fazil Hussain Parvez praised the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 for recommending instruction in the students’ mother tongue till grade five.
He further highlighted the fact that parents today choose not to get admission to Urdu medium schools and many do not offer Urdu as an option anymore. “The reason was a lack of qualified teaching staff. Urdu medium schools operated by Anjuman-I-Islam in Maharashtra are getting recognition at international platforms,” Dr Parvez said.
Dr Pravez cited the example of 23-year-old cricket sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal, who studied in an Urdu-medium school, emphasizing that providing quality education enables students to excel in any competition.
Speakers like Telangana president of Movement for Peace and Justice (MPJ) Mohammed Abdul Aziz and well-known columnist Iqbal Ahmed linked the deterioration of the Urdu language with the regression of the people who speak it.
Aziz alleged the ‘burning’ of Osmania University’s Darul Tarjuma as a conspiracy to decelerate the progress of Urdu and its speakers while Iqbal Ahmed pointed out that the language as of now holds no practical use in a person’s life.
“Urdu is the second official language of the state but what are its legal implications? Can you file an FIR in Urdu? Can you file an affidavit with the High Court in Urdu?” he asked while urging the Urdu Academy to undertake the task of publishing books aligned with the academic curriculum to ensure students build a strong foundation in the language.
He brought up how destroying a language’s link with livelihood is the fastest way to kill the language because when people see no future in it, they automatically give up on it.
Another issue raised was regarding the reservations in recruiting district selection committee (DSC) teachers. Four DSC aspirants from the 2024 batch who were present at the meet put forward their plight saying they have been unable to find jobs for the past 4-5 months.
“There are no candidates available for the Urdu medium seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes etc., yet merit candidates are not being recruited in their positions. We appeal to have those seats opened for the general category and provide justice for merit-based candidates” said one aspirant present at the meet.
Other speakers like Miskeen Ahmed known for his mushairas also brought up how Urdu is nowhere to be found on signboards, government offices, schools or even RTC buses.
The meeting concluded with a vote for forming a long-term committee that would plan for the preservation and progress of the Urdu language in the state.
