Urdu no foreign language, Dept objets to being clubbed with those of foreign tongues

The Punjab University's Urdu Department has objected to its proposed merger with those of various foreign tongues, asserting that Urdu is not a foreign language but an Indian one like Hindi and Punjabi.

The university has recently proposed making Urdu Department the part of School of Foreign Languages to be set up after merging departments of Russian, French, German, Chinese and Tibetan languages, said Urdu Department coordinator Ali Abbas on Saturday.

"Urdu was born, nurtured and cultured in India during the first two decades of the 13th century by Amir Khusro. From that moment onward, Urdu and Hindi languages have not looked back. Not only this, even Punjabi language was put on the path of development by Baba Farid Ganj Shakar," said Abbas in a letter to the PU's Dean University Instructions (DUI).

A "wrong impression" is being created by certain elements that Urdu is a foreign language", said Abbas, asserting that "it is far from the truth".

Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi are the three ...