'Yaad-e-Raftagaan' book released

Hyderabad: "The Madrassa education system needs to be fortified to improve the quality of university education," said Vice-Chancellor Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) Dr Syed Ainul Hasan Abedi on Monday.

Speaking during the Yaad-e-Raftagaan book release programme organised by the Telangana State Urdu Academy (TSUA), he said "Madrassa students are sharp; they leave their imprints in every vertical they are associated with."

The VC who is also a renowned Persian scholar, announced that an Urdu Calligraphy workshop will be held soon in collaboration with MANUU and the academy.

The book, Yaad-e-Raftagan, is a monograph collection of noted 69 Hyderabadi Urdu personalities and their contributions with featured articles written by renowned Urdu journalists and personalities. The 1,385-page book is compiled by Prof Majeed Bedar and published by the academy.

TSUA secretary Dr Mohammed Ghouse highlighted its achievements, while chairman Dr Raheemuddin Ansari launched the audio visual of the official anthem. Editor Gul Bootey (Bombay), In-charge Registrar of MANUU Mahmood Siddiqui, and author of the anthem Sardar Saleem were present.

Citing the example of Ali Sardar Jaffari and Majrooh Sultanpuri, who were Madrassa graduates, and became incredibly popular as film lyricists, he said language preserves the culture. He acknowledged the contributions of Hyderabad in promotion of Urdu and called for revival of the Department of Deccan Studies at MANUU.

Siddiqui said "to promote and safeguard the future of Urdu language, emphasis must be on the promotion of Urdu schools and students of Urdu."