Jammu, February 5 : Rasa Javedani Memorial Literary Society (RJMLS) has once again raised the demand for the setting up of an Urdu academy in Jammu.A meeting of society was held under the chairmanship of its president Professor Shohab Inayat Malik where all the members urged upon the chief minister Mr Omar Abdullah to announce Urdu academy in Jammu.
Speaking on the occasion, Professor Malik said that in 1996 the then chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah had assured that Urdu Academy will be set at Sidhra Jammu and sign board of the proposed academy was also installed at Sidhra. "Blue print was prepared and was submitted to then education minister Mr Mohammad Shafi Uri, but till date nothing has been done in this regard," Prof. Shohab informed
Prof. Shohab further said that Urdu is official language of the state but is being treated step motherly by successive state governments. "Surprisingly State like Andhra Pardesh , Bihar, Medhya Pradesh, Utter Pradesh , Delhi and even in Punjab Urdu academy has been setup and they are performing their duties for the promotion of Urdu language," added Prof. Shohab
The members of the Society said that since Urdu academy has its own budget for the promotion of Urdu Language, therefore it is the need of the hour to setup an Urdu academy in Jammu and Kashmir State as it is not only the official language of all the state but also a link language between the three regions of the state. "It is essential to motivate new generation towards Urdu and Urdu academy can easily do this job as is being done by the other Urdu Academies in the country by providing financial assistance to the Urdu students ," members maintained adding further that Jammu and Kashmir state need Urdu Academy as it would provide benefits to Urdu writers poets and scholars, Urdu Academy can review old age traditions in the state.
The members further said that if government would not consider this demand, RJMLS along with other sister organizations would launch an agitation for this genuine cause.
The members who spoke on the occasion included Aseer Kishtwari, Ravi Thakur, Tanveer Ahmad, Payria Hatash, Masood Ahmad Khateeb, KK Raina, Mumtaz Kouser, Dr Duad Iqbal Baba, Irfan Qureshi, Vijay Kumar and others.