There is a strong plea from the minorities for government support in reviving Urdu journalism in India.
There is a concern about the declining number of Urdu readers in India, particularly in Telangana. Despite the rich 200-year history of Urdu journalism in India – with the first Urdu newspaper, Jam-e-Jahan Numa, published on March 27, 1822, from Calcutta – there is a significant decrease in Urdu newspapers’ readership.
This is attributed to the lack of sufficient government support.
Survival and prosperity of Urdu journalism, like any language journalism, is directly proportional to its readers. As such, increasing the Urdu readership at the grassroots level should be a priority.
Although Urdu was declared the second official language in Telangana in 2017, its implementation has been lackluster, particularly in education. Over 4,000 primary schools, including several Urdu medium institutions, have been shut down in Telangana since 2014.
The Urdu Academy’s role, needs to be more significant than merely printing textbooks. Promotion of the Urdu language should be prioritized, and financial resources should be allocated for this purpose.
Urdu cannot be preserved merely through Mushairas or awards, it needs to reach every household and be taught to every child.
Urdu-speaking population in Telangana, with a total population of nearly 3.5 crore, has increased to 12.69%. However, the actual number of these who can read and write Urdu is uncertain but seemingly low, inferred from the daily sales of all Urdu newspapers combined, which does not exceed 1 lakh copies. This implies only 0.225% of the Urdu-speaking population is buying the newspaper.
This landscape could be transformed if the state government actively promoted the Urdu language, revived primary schools, and made a concerted effort to teach the Urdu-speaking population to read and write in Urdu.
During the YSR regime Urdu was promoted at all levels, initiated 34 Urdu computer centers, distributed computers among small newspapers and agencies, and awarded Urdu journalists, writers, and poets, alongside providing them with health cards.
Government must start awards in the name of Urdu veterans like Abid Ali Khan, Mahboob Hussain Jigar, Khan Lateef Khan, Syed Viqaruddin and others. He said lectures, talks, quiz competitions should also be held in Urdu language.
Urdu language continues to thrive, and a community’s identity is intrinsically linked to its language, culture, and literature. However, there are growing concerns that this distinct identity is gradually losing its essence.
There has also been growing attempts to rename cities, altering the historical and cultural identity associated with them.The change in NCERT syllabus was a proof that the RSS was trying to infuse its ideology into the education sector.
A chapter on esteemed Urdu poet Allama Iqbal, the author of ‘Saare Jahan Se Acha’, from the syllabus of Delhi University was removed in the recent times.
