A five-day workshop on capacity building of Urdu journalists and students of journalism in Kashmir started here at University of Kashmir .The workshop has been organized by Educational Multi-Media Research Centre (EMMRC), University of Kashmir in collaboration with National Council for Promotion of Urdu language (NCPUL), New Delhi.
Vice-Chancellor Central University of Kashmir Prof Mehraj-ud-din Mir during inaugural session called for promotion of Urdu language and keeping it alive as a necessity for being in sync with Kashmir’s rich heritage, tradition and history in particular and with the history of the Indian -Sub continent in general.
“However,” Prof Mir lamented:“Despite Urdu being our official language we failed to give it the kind of respect which it deserved and gone are the days when our entire revenue records and official correspondence would take place in Urdu and same is being replaced by English now.”
Prof Nilofer Khan said:“It is our moral duty to make efforts for the promotion of the Urdu language which is the official language of Jammu and Kashmir UT.”
Registrar KU Dr Nisar A Mir in said “Urdu journalism has played a great role in the freedom struggle of India and at that point of time Urdu was the language of the common masses. However these days we have confined and attributed it as the language of a particular community only which in itself is a big stereotype and discrimination.”
Director EMMRC KU Dr Shahid Rasool said “Urdu is still the third most important language in the Indian subcontinent after Hindi and English and Urdu newspapers are presently getting published from 18 states of the country. It is with this aim that the present workshop has been organized so that Urdu journalists and students of journalism should go all out in taking advantage of new technological advances that are radically changing the way information is reached to masses for the promotion of Urdu language.”
Director NCPUL Dr Aqueel Ahmad deliberated upon the role played by NCPUL for promotion and preservation of Urdu language across the country and said that NCPUL conducts such camps and workshops round the year for refining the skills of the Urdu working journalists and sharpening their skills.
