Urdu must build its own empire of knowledge, advise experts

Scholars, critics and writers discuss the challenges faced by the language

KARACHI:

To withstand the challenges of globalisation, Urdu must build its own empire of knowledge. It has to create and disseminate knowledge in every field, with every important book from any language of the world translated into Urdu.

Urdu critics, writers and researchers suggested these precautionary measures for the survival of Urdu in a world where English is the lingua franca and another language is 'murdered' every two weeks. They were speaking about the problems faced by Urdu and its future at the second session of the Seventh International Urdu Conference at the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi, on Friday.



"Out of the 7,106 languages in the world, only 300 to 600 will survive by the end of the 21st century," said critic Dr Nasir Abbas Nayyar, quoting Unesco figures about languages in his speech 'The Case of Urdu in International Society'. "The danger posed by English in the era of corporate globalisation is far more dangerous than the threats it levelled at the time of imperial globalisation; not only does it have the support of the US now, but also of consumerism."

This was not to say that Urdu was in danger of dying out, he went on to assure. "Most of the dying languages are from Africa and only spoken by a few hundred people, but globalisation is still posing serious challenges to Urdu," Dr Nayyar said. He criticised the ideology connected with Urdu that has infused the language with conservatism, barring it from adopting modern words. "Urdu has to fight this conservatism and open its doors to the knowledge that is part of globalisation, while preserving its own culture and identity," he said.

Dr Nayyar also commented about the trend of the unnecessary amalgamation of English words within spoken Urdu in Pakistan, particularly in electronic and print, calling it the remains of colonialism and a manifestation of 'captive thinking'.

Although Urdu is the national language, no university provides education or conducts research in it, lamented Dr Najeeba Arif of the International Islamic University, Islamabad, in her monograph 'Contemporary Problems of the Urdu Language and the Role of Universities'. "The only degrees given by the universities are for Urdu literature, and as a result, the students cannot even write a proper application in Urdu," she said, insisting that linguistics should be separated from literature.

"We consider written language to be most important, but the rest of the world believes that the spoken word is the real face of any language," claimed Dr Arif. She suggested that a standard should be created for Urdu in accordance with the condition of Pakistan, specifying its alphabets, pronunciation, transcripts and sentence structure.

Urdu fiction writer Intizar Hussain, presiding over the session, said that the leaders of the Pakistan Movement who had decided to make Urdu the national language had actually damaged it. "They did not take the situation of Pakistan into consideration when making this decision, and they showed no flexibility when the Bengali issue emerged," he said. "Urdu exists in India and Pakistan on its own strength; no government or organisation has done anything for it." He added that although globalisation was a challenge, nothing could stop Urdu from progressing on its own abilities.

"When there are five children being born in every house in the country, there is no danger to religion or to Urdu," quipped writer, journalist and broadcaster Raza Ali Abidi, sounding optimistic about Urdu's survival.

Meanwhile, noted scholar Dr Qazi Afzal Husain, from Aligarh, India, stressed the need for Urdu critics, scholars and lovers to fight for the language themselves instead of looking to the government for help. "If we can run an Urdu-medium university in India, what is stopping you from establishing an Urdu department?"

Published in The Express Tribune, October 19^th, 2014.