At 50, Urdu Academy faces uncertain future

Time of India

15 hours ago

It was April 20, 1975. Excitement filled Durbar Hall at Raj Bhavan, the governor's majestic, sea-facing residence in South Mumbai. A galaxy of stars from the city's literary firmament descended to witness a momentous event: the inauguration of the Maharashtra State Urdu Academy.
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"Marathi is my mother tongue. It runs in my veins. But I also take pride in the fact that I was born in an area where Urdu took root. I initially studied in Urdu. If I am accused of loving Urdu…so be it. There is a close bond between Marathi and Urdu. And I thought of establishing the Urdu Academy so that the two languages can be brought closer," declared then CM Shankarrao Chavan. Sharing the dais with him were then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Maharashtra Governor Ali Yavar Jung, Jammu and Kashmir CM Sheikh Abdullah, and minister-scholar Dr Rafiq Zakaria.
Now, at 50, as the Maharashtra State Urdu Academy prepares to mark its golden jubilee, a few fondly recall the grand inaugural event. Noted linguist, scholar and retired Urdu professor Abdus Sattar Dalvi, 88, was perhaps the youngest among the 21-member inaugural board or committee of the Academy. "It was the fulfilment of a cherished dream of Urduwallas in the state—a promise made by both PM Indira Gandhi and Shankarrao Chavan," recalls Dalvi, who is now frail and battling old age-related illnesses at his Mira Road flat.
"If we had Urdu giants like Ali Sardar Jafri, Krishan Chandar, Ismat Chughtai and Khwaja Ahmed Abbas, the Urdu Academy also boasted Marathi literary legends like Setu Madhavrao Pagdi, Shreepad Joshi and Vidyadhar Gokhale."
If Urdu lovers were enthused to hear Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, who came from the family of iconic poet Mirza Ghalib, they were surprised by Sheikh Abdullah, whose home state Jammu & Kashmir was then the only state with Urdu as its official language.
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"I have planned to build guesthouses for writers and poets where they can stay and enjoy my beautiful state's convivial climate," Abdullah had said in his speech.
We do not know if a guesthouse exclusively for writers and poets ever came up. What is certain and a bit worrying is the precarious present of the Urdu Academy. Located at the Old Custom House, a heritage building near the iconic Asiatic Society Library, the Urdu Academy is a shadow of its former self.
Its cluttered and understaffed office faces another threat: eviction. "We have received a notice from the culture department which says it has to accommodate an Academy of a different language.
We have written to the General Administration Department to allocate an alternative place," says the Academy's executive officer Shoeb Hashmi. With no committee in place since 2020, burreaucrats call the shots. Shocked by the Academy's imminent "homelessness", a furious Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh complained to minority development minister Dattatray Bharne.
"Why should the Urdu Academy be moved out to make space for another Academy?" asks Shaikh. "If at all it is moved, a better office at a more prominent site must be given. The minister has promised to investigate it."
Bharne told TOI: "I am not aware of any such notice. I am currently in my village in Pune district and will sort it out once I return."
Former minority department minister Anees Ahmed is livid: "At a time when some justifiably demand the preservation of Marathi's pride, the Urdu Academy must function fully to bring Marathi and Urdu closer."
Mahim Samaritan Mudassar Patel, who successfully advocated for the appointment of teachers at two Urdu teachers' training colleges, hopes "the chief minister will not let down a beautiful language like Urdu."
As the Academy built on dreams of linguistic harmony turns 50, its supporters hope the institution won't be left without a roof over its head.