Last Updated on March 11, 2026 4:47 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
Our Correspondent / New Delhi
The Delhi unit of the Urdu Development Organization (UDO) has urged the Delhi government to expedite the formation of the Delhi Urdu Academy and take concrete measures to promote Urdu at the grassroots level. The demand was raised during a meeting-cum-Iftar gathering held at Road Gran, Lal Kuan in the capital, under the chairmanship of Dr. Mufti Javed Anwar Dehlavi.
Addressing the gathering, UDO Delhi General Secretary Master Maqsood Ahmad suggested that the Delhi government reinstate officials such as Shariful Hasan Naqvi and R. P. Singh as nodal officers in the Directorate of Education, similar to the arrangement that existed in the past. He emphasised that Urdu, which enjoys the status of the second official language in Delhi, requires sustained institutional support for its development and promotion.
Participants also appealed to the public to encourage the practice of writing the names of madrassas, mosques, schools, maktabs and streets in Urdu. Referring to the National Education Policy 2020, Master Maqsood said the policy encourages education in the mother tongue at the primary level. He urged school principals to ensure that subjects are taught in the mother tongue at least up to Class VIII wherever possible.
Social worker Iqbal Malik said he had been purchasing and reading Urdu newspapers for the past 25 years and expressed his willingness to work with the organisation to promote the language. Dr. Najm-us-Sehar announced that a campaign to install signboards in Urdu would begin from Gali Madrasa Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlavi in Kalan Mahal, Delhi.
UDO convenor Wasim Ahmad Siddiqui stressed the need to effectively implement the three-language formula in Delhi’s education system. Ashfaq Hussain Naghmi suggested that meetings be organised in neighbourhoods to encourage the use of Urdu, including the writing of invitation cards in the language.
Senior journalist Mohammad Owais highlighted that for more than a decade there has been no Urdu officer in the Post Registrar Office to handle correspondence in Urdu, nor any official in the Delhi Assembly responsible for recording proceedings in the language. He also pointed out the absence of an Urdu editor for the magazine published by the DIP department and the lack of an Urdu officer in the Lieutenant Governor’s office for translation and media monitoring.
Speakers said the abolition of such posts by the current administration has negatively affected the growth and dissemination of Urdu in the capital.
The meeting unanimously demanded the immediate formation of the Delhi Urdu Academy and the filling of vacant posts in the institution. In his presidential address, Dr. Mufti Javed Anwar Dehlavi called for collective efforts, saying that just as bricks, gravel and cement together build a house, people associated with Urdu must work together to strengthen the language.
The meeting also finalised the names for the new office-bearers of the organisation’s Delhi unit. Dr. Mufti Javed Anwar, Master Maqsood Ahmad and Mohammad Imran Qanauji were proposed as President, General Secretary and Treasurer respectively. The meeting was held in two sessions before Iftar and after dinner, with several members sharing their views on promoting Urdu in Delhi.
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