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Urdu in the Arab/Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia - page 2/3
Aalami Urdu Markaz - Jeddah
Aalami Urdu Markaz, Jeddah is another major organization promoting the cause of Urdu in Saudi Arabia. In November 2012 Aalami Urdu Markaz held a major event to commemorate the 140th birthday of Baba-e- Urdu Dr. Molvi Abdul Haq .
Molvi Abdul Haq (16th Nov 1872 - 16th Aug 1961) was an acclaimed Urdu educator, writer, critic, linguist, lexicographer, editor, compiler, translator, etymologist, biographer and grammarian.
His entire life (90 years) was devoted to making Urdu the foremost language across sub-continent. He did not marry in order to serve Urdu. He managed “Anjuman e Taraqqi e Urdu” consistently for 50 years both Pre-partition India and Pakistan. Having realized the demise of Persian language in the sub-continent, Molvi Abdul Haq made it his life-time mission to place Urdu language at par with English and Arabic.
Baba-e-Urdu was the moving spirit behind the establishment of Osmania University Hyderabad, Deccan, where all subjects were taught in Urdu. World’s largest “Urdu Translation Center” was established whereby rare Urdu books and Deccani manuscripts were translated and published in Urdu. He was creator of the world’s largest Urdu-English Dictionary in 1930.
After Osmania University, he was instrumental in setting-up the world’s first Islamia College for Women, Lahore in 1939 and Pakistan’s first Urdu College in Karachi in 1949 later converted to a multi-faculty, multi-site Federal Urdu University.
The Baba-e-Urdu birthday attracted a large crowd from all walks of life. Men, women, hailing from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia.
Mushairas in Jeddah
On February 20, 2015, the Bazm-e-Ittehad Jeddah (BIJ), a prominent literary, social and charitable organization of Indian expatriate community, held its fourth annual Mushaira in Jeddah. The center of attraction were the two newly elected members of Maharashtra Assembly, Imtiaz Jaleel from Aurangabad and Waris Yusuf Pathan from Mumbai.
Both were honored with the prestigious Salar-e-Millat Award for their community service. The BIJ awards are inspired by the late Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, who represented the historic south Indian city of Hyderabad in the Indian Parliament for several years. Because of his exemplary leadership, he is popularly referred to as Salar-e-Millat (leader of the community). The constituency is now represented by his eldest son Asaduddin Owaisi, who has emerged as a credible voice of Indian Muslims in recent years.
Renowned poets from India who graced the occasion with prominent local poets to recite their poetry were Naeem Akhtar Burhanpuri, Rubab Rashidi, Dr. Anjum Bara bankavi, Aga Sarosh, Waheed Pasha Qadari and Syed Alamdar Rizwi. Local poets were Dr. Syed Naeem Hamid Ali Al-Hamid, Mujahid Syed, Naeem Bazidpuri, Ather Nafees Abbasi, Dr. Aleem Khan Falki, Mahtab Qader, Sadiq Kirmani, Dr. Mohammed Karim Baibani, Nasir Burni, Anwar Ansari and Altaf Shaheryar.
On May 7, 2015, the Khak-e-Taiba Trust organized an Indo-Pakistan Mushairas in Jeddah. The Urdu lovers were treated to exquisite poetry from some of the finest names in the world of Urdu poetry.
Among others, there were Peerzada Qasim, the unparalleled stalwart of Urdu poetry and vice chancellor of Karachi University; Zakia Ghazal, the unique exponent of the popular genre of poetry; Professor Inayat Ali Khan and Popular Meeruthi, the princes of humor; Muztar Majaz, the able representative of Hyderabad; Rahat Indori, who is unfortunately known more for his histrionics than his good poetry; Meraj Faizabadi, representing the Luknowi school of poetry; and Professor Abdul Wahab Jazb, the new voice from Deccan.
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