Aligarh: Urdu language has not been given a "fair deal" in the country in the post independence era, Press Council chairman Justice Markandey Katju has said. Justice Katju, addressing a gathering at Al-Barkat Educational Institutions campus in Aligarh on Thursday night, said the present sad plight of Urdu stems from the "misconception and canard" spread by some sections that Urdu is a "foreign language".
Katju described Indian culture as "primarily a homogeneous product" of the synthesis of the "Sanskrit-Urdu" traditions. Flagging off a Urdu caravan from Aligarh, Katju said that this programme launched by admirers of the language, cutting across various religious groups, is aimed at "removing these misconceptions" in different parts of the country.
"Those groups who charge the Indian Muslims of not being part of the national mainstream are themselves not part of the real mainstream of India and are ignorant of the cultural treasure house which is the hallmark of the ancient Vedic culture which manifests through Sanskrit," he said.
"This ancient culture of India based on scientific wisdom, is a liberal all-embracing culture which transcends all the barriers of religious divisiveness," he said. Stressing that India is on the threshold of becoming an industrial super power, Katju said all those who are trying to divide the country in the name of religion, language and caste were major obstacles in modern India's quest for glory. He said that India would only thrive if it "fully acknowledges its syncretic and pluralistic cultural roots".
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