E-Paper
Need to popularize Urdu particularly in north India: AMU VC
Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) vice chancellor professor Tariq Mansoor said mother tongues have special value in the lives of communities, so Urdu-speakers must focus on propagation of their mother tongue, primarily by teaching the language and its script to their children
Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) vice chancellor professor Tariq Mansoor said Urdu was a language of all communities symbolizing the composite culture of India and there was a need to popularize the language particularly in north India.
He was addressing the inaugural session of two-day national seminar on ‘Urdu Sahafat: Zaban kay Badaltay Pas-e-Manzar kay Hawaly Say’ organised by the Department of Linguistics, AMU in collaboration with National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL), Ministry of Education, New Delhi on Saturday.
“Mother tongues have special value in the lives of communities, so Urdu-speakers must focus on propagation of their mother tongue, primarily by teaching the language and its script to their children,” he said.
Emphasizing the importance of Urdu teachers’ training, the VC said the Urdu Academy at AMU aims at imparting training to Urdu teachers from the schools of Uttar Pradesh and other states. The Departments of Linguistics and Urdu among others can take up this task after managing funds and resources.
“There are some languages and dialects facing danger of extinction. There is a need to do research and work for preservation of such languages,” Prof Mansoor said.
He congratulated the Department of Linguistics for organizing a seminar on Urdu journalism with reference to linguistic evolution and challenges.
He also highlighted the key role of conventional universities in doing advanced research and quality teaching in traditional and oriental subjects in the faculties of Arts, social sciences, humanities and languages.
Prof M J Warsi (chairman, Department of Linguistics and director of the seminar) said “The interplay of media and language is the key reference point for linguistic studies and Urdu journalistic language and idioms have evolved and undergone changes-a natural linguistic phenomenon.”
He mentioned the role of Sir Syed, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar and others in the development of Urdu journalism.
Prof Ehtesham A Khan (dean, School of Mass Communication and Journalism, MANUU, Hyderabad) said students of journalism and mass communication learn technical part of news and script writing in universities and colleges but there is not much focus on improving their language skills.
“Training in content and script-writing with focus on language should be part of the curriculum,” he added.
The two-day seminar will conclude on March 6.
