Doha becoming a centre of Urdu related activities

In a recent meeting, Bazm-e-Sadaf International (BSI)’s branch in Qatar constituted a new executive committee. BSI’s central committee took important decisions on its next international literary award and new generation award. The meeting also discussed new applications it has received about opening new branches of BSI in different countries.Talking to Community, Shahabuddin Ahmed, BSI Chairman, said, “In the meeting we’ve requested the five-member panel of judges to finalise the names of awardees and send in their recommendations to the central committee for timely announcement of the awards.”He added, “The new committee members, includes Bilal Khan, Najmul Hassan Khan, Jawed Alam Siddiquee, Sarmad Khan and Ali Imran, Senior Advisers; Imran Asad, President; Dr Nadeem Zafar Jilani and Saifuddin Ahmad Sharique, Vice-Presidents; Mohammed Irfanullah, Programme Co-ordinator; Om Prakash Pareedah, General Secretary; Rizwan Khan and Mohammed Saifur Rahman, Joint Secretaries; Mohammed Tahir Jameel, Media Secretary and Mohammed Sabahuddin Malik, Treasurer.”“And Executive committee members, include Gauhar Altaf, Mahfooz Hassan, Raqim Azami, Mohammed Tahir, Pervez Ahmad, Mohammed Fayyaz and Mohammed Sajid Ansari,” he said.The chairman further added, “The meeting has postponed the decision of new applications coming in from different countries to open new branches of BSI. The committee has authorised me to make ad-hoc committees for Dubai, Mauritius, Bangladesh, UK and USA after holding discussions with local Urdu activists.”Talking about BSI, Ahmad said, “BSI is not a very old organisation. It was founded in Patna, India in 2015. It is based in India. However, its Doha branch has also been very active since its formation. Our first Urdu symposium in Doha was held in 2016 and we introduced dastan goi (old tradition of storytelling in Urdu). It received a lot of appreciation from the Urdu lovers living in Qatar.”“Recently, we also organised an international historical seminar in Patna on ‘Role of Madaris and Urdu language in Nation Building’ which was attended by leading scholars and literary critics from India and abroad. Delegates included Professor Irtaza Kareem, Patron BSI; Professor Safdar Imam Quadri, Director; Dr Mohammed Zahidul Haq, General Secretary; and Dr Wahid Nazeer, Treasurer,” the chairman noted.When asked about how BSI Qatar defines its niche, Ahmed said, “I appreciate the fact that there are many organisations promoting Urdu language and literature in Qatar. As an Urdu lover, I appreciate their efforts and works. However, our primary focus is to highlight and encourage the works of Urdu writers living away from India and Pakistan. We introduce the writers and their works in India. We sort of recognise them and their work. We have been working on history of Urdu diaspora.”He added, “There is an international Urdu journal published from Patna with the name of Bazm-e-Sadaf. The journal has been highlighting the works of old and new Urdu writers since 1995.”About his association with the language, Ahmad said, “Urdu is my native language and it is part and parcel of my life. My father Professor Naz Qadri has been an Urdu teacher all his life. He is a known Urdu poet in India. He has written 20 books so far. Though I am not a writer myself but I love reading and listening to the Urdu poetry and stories.”About the Urdu-related activities in Doha, he said, “People say there are three centres of Urdu in the world that includes India, Pakistan and UK. Keeping an eye on the Urdu literary activities in Doha, Qatar has become another centre of the language. I see that Qatar will soon surpass London as there are many known and talented Urdu writers based in Doha now. I have been working with Qatar Steel for about 11 years now and I see that large number of expatriates communicate in Urdu or Hindi. It is the third most common medium of communication here after Arabic and English. We also plan to raise awareness among the students from the South Asian countries to read and write in Urdu. We are planning to have regular visits to different schools in Qatar.”