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Second International Urdu Conference: Urdu writers urged to use easier words to promote reading

By Fawad Ali Shah

KARACHI: The Second International Urdu Conference started on Tuesday in the premises of the Karachi Arts Council to pay tribute to the language, a bonding force that has been keeping people belonging to different religions, castes, ethnic groups and sects together in the Indian subcontinent for centuries.

However, this time around the Urdu enthusiasts had to face a major setback as many of the foreign experts and writers could not make it to the conference because of the law and order situation in the country.

Last year, 11 writers and scholars from India and 20 from other parts of the world participated in the conference and presented their papers. Writers, poets, novelists and short story writers of Urdu are participating in the five-day event and at the end of each day, a musical night has been arranged in which renowned singers of Pakistan would capture the attention of the visitors with the magic of their voices.

One of the aims of the International Urdu Conference is to pave way for the promotion of Urdu, and therefore, the scholars attending the conference would also suggest how to develop this language further and promote it internationally.

On Tuesday at the opening ceremony, renowned personalities like Fatima Surayya Bajya, Jamiluddin Aali, Hajra Masroor, Zehra Nigah, Iftikhar Arif and Kishwar Naheed captured the attention of the students and readers of Urdu literature.

It was heart-warming to witness that besides renowned scholars, poets, fiction writers and academics; youngsters in large numbers were also present at the conference. Almost half of the hall was filled with youngsters.

Muhammad Ahmad Shah, general secretary of the Arts Council welcomed the participants.

“We are sorry that we could not gather Urdu experts from around the world this time because of the poor law and order situation in the country,” Shah said, however, he remained optimistic about the impact of the conference on the language.

“Most of our foreign participants were ready to come and share their views with us but with every bomb blast the number of participants decreased,” he informed remorsefully.

Iftikhar Arif, a prominent writer and poet, who has travelled from Islamabad to participate in the conference, presented his research on the topic “Azadi ke baad Pakistan mai Urdu adab ka Jaeza.”

Arif focused on how Urdu can be developed in the present environment. He claimed that Urdu enthusiasts had done more damage to the language than the enemies.

“When you write difficult Urdu and introduce difficult words, very few opt to speak and write that language,” he said while advising the writers and speakers to use simple language to promote reading.

Talking about the past, he said that in the pre-Partition era, Urdu was haunted by regional politics and the policies of the British government, but the writers are also not without blame for not maintaining the status quo.

Gopi Chand, an Indian scholar of Urdu, also addressed the audiences through a telephonic conference.

Fareeda Khanam and Mehnaz featured in the musical night.

The conference provides an opportunity for the admirers and students of Urdu to understand the roots of the language and enjoy its different moods.

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