Urdu is making a comeback, says Ansari

Former Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari said on Tuesday that Urdu was making a strong comeback and that is a language not only of the Muslims but the entire country.

“But the misfortune of the language has been that it came into the political arena. Through that, it came to be perceived as a language spoken by Muslims... this is far from the truth. The beauty of the language is that it isn’t region specific and is spoken across the country,” Mr. Ansari said at the launch of an Urdu version of the online news portal, The Wire .

A national language

Stating that Urdu is a national language and that it should be part of the digital information boom, Mr. Ansari said: “Twenty years ago I would have thought that the popularity of the language is receding that, however, isn’t the case now.”

“Though English is now universally required, it doesn’t take away from the importance of Urdu and the fact that there is a large population of people who continue using this language,” he added.

The former V-P noted that knowledge of Urdu language may not always translate into a livelihood, but that is no reason why a language should be abandoned.

Mr. Ansari had recently stoked controversy by making a statement during an interview where he said that a sense of “insecurity is creeping in among Muslims”. He refused to comment on this on Tuesday.