In a recent development of affairs, the Aligarh Muslim University’s move to make Urdu compulsory in its undergraduate curriculum has faced severe criticism from the Uttar Pradesh wing of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Praishad (ABVP). They have slammed the move as a regressive step for education and if required, they are even ready to challenge the proposed move in court.
ABVP feels that AMU being a famous and influential university in the state must be rational in its approach towards education. The numerous students who join AMU for pursuing graduation will face an arduous task ahead if their mother tongue happens to be any random language other than Urdu. Hence this move may well turn out to be a major deterrent for students and may prohibit them from opting for AMU.
ABVP’s state president Manvendra Singh said, “We have sent a memorandum to the President of India who also happens to be a visitor of AMU on this regard. We have urged him to look into the matter and ensure that AMU abandons its move to implement the said proposal.”
On the other hand, AMU’s Registrar Group Captain (Retd) Shamrukh Shamshad lamented that the entire hullaballoo was nothing but a misconstrued hype and has been blown totally out of proportions by some people. On this regard, he also explained how the matter actually stands in reality.
He said, “Both elementary Hindi and Urdu have been part of the undergraduate curriculum in AMU for the past half a century. The only development that is being introduced is that from the ensuing academic year, the marks obtained by the student in his compulsory Urdu paper will be added to his final evaluation marks.”
He also added further that the accusations of forcefully imposing Urdu on non-Urdu students are untrue in every respect while the real fact was explained by him. A corrective measure of offering an option of extra-elementary Urdu has also been introduced for those hailing from non-Urdu backgrounds.
According to the registrar, AMU expects its students to take the course with seriousness and equal diligence just like other subjects to ensure that the education imparted will be fruitful in every respect. Moreover the rule of compulsory 75% attendance in that is applicable to classes of all subjects has also been imposed on the Urdu course to ensure that students are dedicated to the subject with equal interest and dutifulness.
Shamshad also expressed that Urdu is a language that represents India’s culturally vibrant and composite past. It has been present and used rampantly in the province in parallel along with Hindi. It has in fact been born and brought up in Uttar Pradesh who can proudly claim to be its motherland.
AMU has proposed the idea and introduced the scheme in order to ensure that the students who graduate from AMU will harbour a basic knowledge of Urdu so that the cultural heritage and nostalgic aspects of the language are preserved. AMU feels that the allegations pertaining to the said “attempt to block the entry of non-Urdu speaking students in AMU” are motivated blasphemous acts which are false throughout their entirety.
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Urdu Compulsory
Uttar Pradesh
Amu
Abvp
Importance Of Urdu Language
