By Asad Mirza
Senior journalist, Suhail Anjum is a renowned name in Urdu journalism. During his career spanning more than 35 years he has been associated with leading Urdu publications like, Weekly Blitz, Weekly Akbar-e Nau, Weekly Hamara Qadam and from 1995 to 2008 he was associated with the oldest multi-edition Urdu newspaper Qaumi Awaz as a Sub Editor.From 2002 he has been working as VOA’s Urdu Correspondent from India.
Suhail has penned more than 40 book in different genres over the years, and out of them 12 have been focused on different aspects of the Urdu Journalism.
His latest work, focusses on the role and contribution of non-Muslim i.e. Hindu, Sikh and Christian journalists in promoting Urdu journalism in India. This aspect of Urdu journalism also exposes the misconception that Urdu is a language of the Indian Muslims, which has been promoted by successive governments of the day. Thus, any work related to promotion of Urdu by them was seen as part of their appeasement policy, which has been used by the opposition parties in targeting the Muslims and underplaying the part of the Urdu language, in recent days.
Suhail’s contribution I this regard is praise worthy, as he histhorough research has even bought out the contributions of lesser-known Hindu journalists to the promotion and growth of the language in the country. In this well-researched and curated book Suhail provides pen sketches of 54 Hindu journalists from Harihar Dutt and Sada Sukh Lal to Kuldip Nayar, Vijay Kumar Chopra, Shanti Ranjan Bhattacharya, Fikr Taunsavi, GD Chandan and Jamna Das Akhtar.
However, one is unable to comprehend why Suhail has ignored Munshi Premchand from this list. Premchand (1880-1936) started his career as one of the most prominent Indian authors of the 20th century in Urdu. His change towards Hindi was gradual, and he continued to write in Urdu until his death. Maybe this is due to the fact that Premchand is much better known as a novelist and short story writer.
The book is a must read particularly for those who harp on the theme of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb or the mixed syncretic culture of north India, as the book proves the point that Hindu journalists from not just UP and Bihar but from Punjab and even Bengal played a key role in the promotion of Urdu language in India. Thus, to link it to a particular religion would be a great disservice to the nation’s diversity and cultural ethos. And when we write about the history of Urdu Journalism, we can not ignore the role and contribution of Hindus to Urdu Journalism, from the start of the first Urdu newspaper Jam-e Jahan Numa in 1822 by Hari Har Dutt, till date.
It would be a great work indeed, if the book is translated into English and Urdu, so as to reach those readers who can’t read it in Urdu, and also to highlight the rich diversity and assimilation of Urdu by all irrespective of their religion.
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