Form and implement action plan to promote Urdu: Scholars

Scholars, intellectuals, authors and other experts of Urdu from across the world have pressed for an action plan towards the preservation and promotion of the language in India.
"It is extremely important to strengthen primary and secondary education in Urdu. Academics, madarsas and the media are, in fact, gaining promotion through the language and not vice-versa", noted scholar Syed Mohammad Ashraf said here.
Ashraf was addressing the recently concluded three-day first international Urdu conference organised by the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL), an autonomous regulatory body under Ministry of Human Resource Development.
At the conference, intellectuals from different countries including India voiced their concern about lack of proper attention to Urdu language, which they repeatedly hailed as a synonym to secularism.

"A lot more needs to be done for Urdu," said Tehsin Firaqui, former Chairman of the Urdu Department in Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan.
"Even though initiatives are being taken in terms of linking the language with technology, efforts should be made to link it with employment which would play a very important role in its promotion," he said.

Scholars also said that in present age of globalisation, avenues are open for the language and the need of the hour was a strong plan of action and its implementation.
"Language can bridge all barriers and Urdu can be a medium to connect to other people speaking the language across the world", professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Khwaja Ekramuddin, said.

"Urdu came into existence out of love among people who wanted to communicate. It is a language of India and every individual must promote it, irrespective of his or her religion or region as Urdu is not limited to a particular section of the society," noted poet Waseem Barelvi said.