Hyderabad: The BRS government, which boasts of promoting the Ganga Jamuni tehzeeb, has failed to live up to expectations if one goes by its gross neglect of Urdu, the state’s second official language, during the state formation day decennial celebrations.
“Telangana Literature Day '' was celebrated as part of the 21-day fete on June 11. The day was marked by district-level kavi sammelans and state-level programmes at Ravindra Bharati. Urdu did not figure in any of the events, not even in those organised in Hyderabad.
It has become so glaring that AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi wanted to know why the second language of Telangana was not getting sufficient funds from the state government.
The Urdu Academy has got just Rs. 101 crore in four years and only Rs. 37 crore of this money was spent, he said on June 10.
The government’s media blitzkrieg was restricted to advertisements in Telugu and English newspapers while the Urdu media was given a raw deal. Some advertisements appeared in a couple of Urdu newspapers but the content was a blend of Urdu and English.
The state government had appointed 60 Urdu officers in 2018 and attached them to every government department and collectorate. The officers were mandated to promote and develop Urdu across the state. The government clearly did not utilize their services during the decennial fete.
Organisations promoting Urdu lamented that the language was being dealt a step-motherly treatment by the state government.
Khan Zia, president of Tehreek Urdu Telangana (TUT), expressed concern at the humiliation being meted out by the state government and ignoring those speaking the language at every major event.
This humiliation was exposed in Jagtial, which is the home district of minority welfare minister Koppula Eshwar, said Khan Zia, adding that there were no posters or banners in Urdu for the kavi sammelan.
“When we registered a protest with the district collector Yasmeen Basha, she failed to address the issue in an appropriate manner. She maintained that it was the job of Urdu writers and journalists to bring such misnomers to her notice in advance,” he said.
Urdu writers and poets, including the eminent poet Waheed Hyder, left the venue in a huff.
As the minister concerned, it is the responsibility of Eshwar to ensure promotion of Urdu at official programmes. If Urdu is neglected in the home district of the minister, then one can imagine the scale of neglect in other districts, said Zia.
Except for felicitating Urdu poets, the language and any mention of it was missing from the official invitations and banners wherever the events were held, including in Karimnagar and Nizamabad.
Sana Kausar, TUT Siddipet secretary, said it was painful to note that the government had neglected Urdu at every level.
Mohd Mustafa Ali Sarwari, an associate professor at the Maulana Azad National Urdu University, said the TS government had been systematically degrading Urdu language.
Stating that not even a single Urdu teacher’s post has been filled in the last nine years, Mustafa Ali said that TMREIS (residential schools) were being promoted at the cost of Urdu medium schools, which are now registering zero admissions. Same was the case with Osmania University where PhD admissions in the Urdu department were falling drastically due to a lack of permanent faculty.
Asked about the absence of Urdu, an official at the minority welfare department said that banners and invitations for official programmes was the responsibility of the general administration department (GAD).
