In a bid to promote multiculturalism through Urdu language, Rekhta Foundation held a 25-hour course called “Rasm-ul-Khat” under its Rekhta Urdu Learning Program. The objective of the course was to widen the horizon of learning the language through reading and writing the original script. What was interesting is that breaking the stereotype of Urdu being a language of a particular community, the course saw participation of 90 non-Muslims in a total of 95.
The valedictory ceremony of the course was attended by veteran Urdu poets Gulzar Dehlvi and Farhat Ehsas. Addressing the gathering, Ehsas described how languages like Persian, Turki, Dogri, Marathi and so on mixed together to form a new language called Urdu, way back in times of Amir Khusro in the 13th Century. Drawing attention to the plural aspect of the language, he said, it was the medium of preaching of Sufis, qalandars and bhakts. “Before 1947, Urdu was the lingua franca in India.”
He claimed that Urdu went to Pakistan after Partition leaving it to fade in India. “Urdu has been left with people who made no attempt to further its cause and took it for granted,” he said .
Further, he added that political damage caused to Urdu due to Partition cannot be undone but then the lingual inheritance can be developed in order to lessen its effect. Despite all the adverse circumstances, he felt optimistic about the way youngsters had come up with zeal and enthusiasm to learn and promote Urdu language at Rekhta’s programme.
Dehlvi, the 93-year-old, eminent Urdu poet recited several couplets much to the delight of the audience.
He stressed on the religious inclusiveness of Urdu by narrating the story of Chandra Bhan Brahman, a poet who recited ghazals and was introduced to Mughal Emperor Shahjahan by his son Dara Shikoh. Impressed by his talent, the Emperor appointed Chandra Bhan as a wazir in his court.
Freedom movement
Cutting to the Independence movement, Dehlvi said the deep influence of Urdu in freedom struggle could be seen in famous poems like “Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai” which inspired many to join the movement.
Dehlvi said that Urdu is a language which mingles two religion. “I have interpreted word Urdu in the sense that by splitting the word we get ‘ur' that means heart and ‘du’ means two. Hence, Urdu is a language which brings two hearts, two cultures and two religions together.” He said that he battled for India's freedom first and then to preserve Urdu and claimed that from 1994 to 2005, in different parts of the world and India, he had opened 44 schools for Urdu. The spread, reach and influence of the language, he said can be judged by the fact that that in more that 72 countries in the six continents of the world, Urdu conventions are held .
Dr. Abdur Rasheed, a Professor of Urdu from Jamia Millia Islamia University, was the instructor in the learning programme which saw people from different professions, age groups, religion and ethnicity participating enthusiastically. One such was Kailash Batra, who said, his father who knew Urdu had left him books in the language as inheritance. Eager as he was to read them it will now be easy for him to do so and understand now that he had attended the programme.
