Urdu not a foreign language, says Panjab University’s Urdu Department
The Panjab University’s Urdu Department has objected to its proposed merger with other foreign tongues, asserting that Urdu is not a foreign language but an Indian one like Hindi and Punjabi. The university recently proposed making the Urdu Department part of the School of Foreign Languages to be set up after merging departments of Russian, French, German, Chinese and Tibetan languages, said Urdu Department coordinator Ali Abbas on Saturday.
“Urdu was born, nurtured and cultured in India during the first two decades of the 13th century by Amir Khusrau. From that moment onward, Urdu and Hindi languages have not looked back. Not only this, even Punjabi language was put on the path of development by Baba Farid Ganj Shakar,” said Mr. Abbas in a letter to the PU’s Dean University Instructions (DUI). A “wrong impression” is being created by certain elements that Urdu is a foreign language”, said Mr. Abbas, asserting that “it is far from the truth”.
Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi are the three main languages of India which were later accorded the status of State language at different times, the letter stated. The Urdu Department raised the objection after the PU authorities recently proposed to merge small departments with less than six faculty members with each other to form one single school or centre, as per new norms laid down by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).…
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/urdu-not-a-foreign-language/article29546616.ece
SEE ALSO:
- Amarinder leads uproar over Panjab varsity calling Urdu a foreign language (Sep 30, 2019, Ummid.com)
https://ummid.com/news/2019/september/30.09.2019/amarinder-lead-uproar-over-punjab-uv-decision-on-urdu-language.html - 43 Months Without Salaries From Govt, Madrasa Teachers In UP’s Pilibhit Stage Protest (Oct 3, 2019, The Cognate)
https://thecognate.com/43-months-without-salaries-from-govt-madrasa-teachers-in-ups-pilibhit-stage-protest/ - Why Govt schemes to modernise madrasas can’t provide quality education to poor Muslims (Oct 3, 2019, Sabrang India)
https://sabrangindia.in/article/why-govt-schemes-modernise-madrasas-cant-provide-quality-education-poor-muslims - Kerala girl who embraced Islam denies ‘love jihad’ claim (Sep 30, 2019, Siasat)
https://www.siasat.com/kerala-girl-who-embraced-islam-denies-love-jihad-claim-1644080/
