Amarinder leads uproar over Punjab varsity calling Urdu a foreign language

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Amarinder leads uproar over Panjab varsity calling Urdu a foreign language

Amarinder not only expressed surprise over PU decision but also hailed Urdu as one of the greatest languages of the country

Monday September 30, 2019 12:10 PM, ummid.com News Network

Chandigarh: An uproar, led by none other than Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, erupted Sunday after Panjab University (PU) authorities said Urdu is not an Indian language and decided to merge it with other foreign languages.

Amarinder not only expressed surprise over PU decision but also hailed Urdu as one of the greatest languages of the country.

"Surprised to learn that @OfficialPU has proposed to make the Urdu Department part of the 'School of Foreign Languages'", Captain Amarinder Singh wrote on Twitter using his official handler Sunday.

"Urdu is an Indian language, like all the great languages of our country", he added.

"Will speak to the Vice Chancellor and Senators to review this decision immediately", the Chief Minister wrote.

Amarinder Singh's message came after Panjab University (PU) officials proposed to make its Urdu Department part of the School of Foreign Languages to be set up after merging departments of Russian, French, German, Chinese and Tibetan languages.

Strongly the decision, Ali Abbas, Co-ordinator of PU Urdu Department, said a wrong impression is being created by certain elements and asserted that it is far from truth to claim that Urdu is a foreign language.

“Urdu was born, nurtured and cultured in India during the first two decades of the 13th century by Amir Khusrau. From that moment onward, Urdu and Hindi languages have not looked back. Not only this, even Punjabi language was put on the path of development by Baba Farid Ganj Shakar,” Abbas said in a letter written to the PU’s Dean University Instructions (DUI).

"Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi are the three main languages of India which were later accorded the status of State language at different times", he added.

Panjab University sources however claimed that the administration decided to merge small departments with less than six faculty members with each other to form one single school or centre, as part of the various measures it took to meet the new NAAC guidelines.

To meet the NAAC guidelines, Abbas suggested bringing the departments of Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi under one umbrella of the department of Indian languages.

“Or the Urdu Department may be allowed to function independently as per the present arrangements,” he wrote.

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