Zia-ul-Hassan Hamidi Moderator Awaz Bahar In Bihar, Urdu is not just a language but an important part of the common cultural, literary and social heritage of the state. Urdu has the status of the second official language in Bihar and the state has also made various announcements and programs for the promotion of Urdu from time to time. But if we look at the current situation of Urdu, an important question comes up that whether celebrations of Urdu celebration and official announcements have changed in the practical development of Urdu? This question is also important because, on the one hand, the love of Urdu at the government level has been talking about its promotion and the need for Urdu education in schools, while on the other hand, some of the orders issued by the Department of Education in 2020 have been described as a step to weaken the educational status of Urdu. On March 25, 2017, a two-day celebration of Urdu was inaugurated at Shri Krishna Memorial Hall, Patna. On this occasion, the then Chief Minister Nitish Kumar declared Urdu as the language of love, goodwill, revolution and change and expressed his desire that Urdu education should be organized in every school in Bihar. At that time, there was hope that Urdu would be promoted as a strong part of school education instead of just a literary and cultural language. But a few years later, the administrative decisions regarding the educational status of Urdu brought this hope into question. Education Department's letter No. 799 dated 15th May 2020 and Notification No. 155 dated 28th August 2020 need to be specially discussed. The notification consequently affected the compulsory status of Urdu at matriculation and plus-two level and put it in the category of optional subject. The post of compulsory Urdu teachers was abolished in the approved Manik Mandal. For Urdu, the matter of "Monk Mandal" is not just an administrative term. This is directly related to how many teachers will be recognized as needed to teach Urdu in schools and under what conditions the teaching of Urdu will be regulated. If there are less approved teaching posts for a subject, it will not only affect the current teachers but also the future recruitment, selection of students and the entire educational structure. Therefore, the main demand of people associated with Urdu has been that Urdu should be given proper place in schools according to its population, official status and educational need. The purpose of Jashan-e-Urdu should not be only to hold mushaira, seminar or literary program. The celebration will be meaningful when it results in a real increase in Urdu-reading children, Urdu teachers, Urdu journalism, Urdu books, government offices and Urdu-related employment opportunities. In 2017, there was a desire for Urdu education in every school on one side, while the concern of Urdu circles about the orders of 2020 was on the other. This contradiction is the basis of a serious debate on the future of Urdu in Bihar today. On the occasion of the current celebration of Urdu, it is important to pose some basic questions to the circles related to Urdu: Will there be a practical arrangement to teach Urdu in every school in Bihar? There will be an increase in the existing number of sanctioned teaching posts of Urdu Does Urdu have a proper place in the curriculum according to its official status? How much is the practical use of Urdu as a second official language in government offices? And the most important question: The dream of Urdu education in every school that was expressed in 2017, where did it reach in 2026? Urdu cannot be kept alive only by describing its past glory. This requires innovative and practical strategies. Celebration of Urdu will be considered successful only when a concrete decision for the future of Urdu comes out at the end of the celebration. Bihar gave Urdu the status of second official language, celebrated in the name of Urdu, announced its promotion and recognized the cultural importance of this language. Now the need of the hour is to go beyond announcements and take practical educational and administrative measures for Urdu. The biggest celebration for Urdu will be to give every child the right and opportunity to read Urdu who wants to read it. Every needy school will get an Urdu teacher and the status of the second official language will be reflected in the official system from the paper. The first Urdu celebration organized by Cabinet Secretariat Department, Urdu Directorate, Government of Bihar was celebrated in 2017, which was led by Imtiaz Ahmed Karimi, who was the director at that time, after that, the situation changed a little and the celebration of Urdu slowly sank into darkness. The interesting thing is that Imtiaz Ahmad Karimi was forgotten in the current celebration program. After 9 years, the current director SM Parvez Alam tried and succeeded in it and it was announced to celebrate Urdu celebration. Yes, it is certain that the Jashan Urdu medal will be affixed on the forehead of SM Parvez Alam and the Urdu people will keep saying that they saw Jashan Urdu being celebrated. The most important thing is that what is this Jashan about. The state of Urdu in Bihar is that Bihar Urdu Academy has been converted into Wadi Khamushan for almost 8 years. Zaban Wadab, a magazine published by the academy, has also been silenced by the whip hand of the officers. The Government Urdu Library is also starting to look dumb. Only the buildings testify to being an academy and the books of the library are covered in dust and the Urdu Advisory Committee has become a victim of people who are on the government's side. The establishment of degree colleges was announced but there is no place for Urdu in it. Against this backdrop, you decide what to celebrate. The Urdu directorate should also take account of itself. Nitish Kumar was involved in the last celebration of Urdu program as Chief Minister, but this time the non-participation of Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary is definitely putting an eclipse on the future of Urdu, although Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Chaudhary and valuable officers are definitely included. People are more likeable. However, after all these discussions, we want to say that we should celebrate Urdu but save the existence of Urdu. Otherwise, the future generations will continue to be unable to learn Urdu and we will continue to celebrate Urdu. That is why we said that Urdu is being celebrated or Urdu is being killed. (Part 1)……
