India's cultural ambassador, Gopi Chand Narang's plea would help get Pak visa

By Firoz Bakht Ahmed*
Another heavyweight of Urdu has fallen. Prof Gopi Chand Narang was a pillar of Urdu. When he was bestowed upon the Padma Bhushan in 2004, he was the only Urdu critic to get the Padma Shri as well. There's hardly any Urdu forum that hasn't honoured him. So has Pakistan’s Iqbal National Open University. So many Urdu and Persian awards have been heaped upon the professor.
Interestingly, Prof Narang (February 11, 1931-June 15, 2022) happened to be the only Urdu critic from India interviewed most by Pakistan Television. Of the most sought after Indian figures in Pakistan, Narang was second only to former Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee. Incidentally, both were so popular in the country across the border that a mere mention or reference of their names helped a person attain a Pakistani visa!
In 1977 he was awarded the national gold medal of Pakistan for his research on Iqbal. Even today in Pakistan's literary circles, Gopi Chand Narang is known as India's cultural ambassador. Writers know that Narang had always raised his voice against parochialism, religious fanaticism and social injustice. Communalists, be they from the Hindi or Urdu lobby, had always tried to derail him. According to Narang, one may be an activist, but in a democracy one does not need a party card to enter the field of letters.
A writer's basic commitment is to the sanctity of shabda, concern for humanitarianism and a sense of nationalism. Sahitya Akademi, whose chairman he was, happens to be the biggest literary body anywhere in the world looking after 22 languages.
At the same time, he was also the consultant to the biggest ever government Urdu body, that is NCPUL (National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language). But according to him, the fact remains that even today it is extremely difficult for writers of Indian languages to make both ends meet by full time writing.
Narang took interest in formulating an Encyclopaedia of Indian Katha Sahitya and an Encyclopaedia of Indian Poetics. Renowned Bengali intellectual Sisir Kumar Das had completed the painstaking job. The National Bibliography of Indian Literature from 1954 till date is another enterprise that Narang has almost completed. Narang also happens to be that celebrated rare intellectual who had spurned the lure of office to pursue his scholastic work.
Narang, according to senior bureaucrat-cum-writer and now, politician Pavan K Varma, is noted for being brutally frank where the question of defending Urdu is concerned. His “literary adversaries” (of whom there is no dearth!) can do anything but ignore him.

Having been brought up in the dry, mountainous terrain of Balochistan and Narang’s mother tongue being Saraiki (a blend of western Punjabi, Sindhi and Pushto), his background conspired against him. Even at his school Musa Khail, Pushto was the medium but he held the fort for Urdu. His father Dharam Chand Narang too was a litterateur himself, and a scholar of Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit, who inspired Gopi's interest in literature
Some of Narang's famous and award winning books include — “Hindustani Qisson se Makhuz Urdu Masnawiyan”, “Urdu: Dilli ki Karkhandari Boli”, “Urdu ki Taleem ke Lisani Pehlu”, “Puranon ki Kahanian” and “Amir Khusrau ka Hindvi Kalaam”.
He finds Urdu to be one of the finest products of composite literature. Among comity of Urdu scholars, Narang is very highly regarded. Truth is that no one can match his stylistic vocabulary.
Narang also happened to be the unquestioned master of Urdu phonetics according to Dr Aqeel Ahmed, the director of National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language, Delhi, Urdu, according to Narang, has been the language of inter-faith harmony and has served as a common bridge between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims right from Amir Khusrau in the 13th century.
Narang believed that the politicization of Urdu has resulted in its downfall. The Urdu card played by politicians has resulted in its degradation. “Urdu is not the language of Muslims. If at all there is any language of Muslims, it should be Arabic,” opined Gopi Chand. Urdu belongs to the composite culture of India, truly.
Being an illustrious student of Delhi College (now Zakir Hussain College), Narang had taught in various universities, including the University of Wisconsin and the University of Minnesota.
Once while speaking to his Pakistani poet friend Ahmed Faraz, he said: “Do not monopolize, fanaticize and politicize a language. Urdu is one of the national languages of India and not a natural language of even a single region of Pakistan from Karachi to Lahore and Quetta to Peshawar. The litterateurs of the two countries must interact with each other.”
---
*Former chancellor, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad; grandnephew, Maulana Azad

Comments

What mainstream economists won’t tell you about Chinese modernisation

By Shiran Illanperuma China’s modernisation has been one of the most remarkable processes of the 21st century and one that has sparked endless academic debate. Meng Jie (孟捷), a distinguished professor from the School of Marxism at Fudan University in Shanghai, has spent the better part of his career unpacking this process to better understand what has taken place.

10,000 students deprived of classes as Ahmedabad school remains shut: MCC writes to Gujarat CM

By A Representative The Minority Coordination Committee (MCC) has written to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, urging him to immediately reopen the Seventh Day Adventist School in Maninagar, Ahmedabad, where classes have been suspended for nearly two weeks. The MCC claims that the suspension, following a violent incident, violates the constitutional right to education of thousands of children.

On Teachers’ Day, remembering Mother Teresa as the teacher of compassion

By Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ It is Teachers’ Day once again! Significantly, the day also marks the Feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta (still lovingly called Mother Teresa). In 2012, the United Nations, as a fitting tribute to her, declared this day the International Day of Charity. A day pregnant with meaning—one that we must celebrate as meaningfully as possible.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Gujarat minority rights group seeks suspension of Botad police officials for brutal assault on minor

By A Representative A human rights group, the Minority Coordination Committee (MCC) Gujarat, has written to the Director General of Police (DGP), Gandhinagar, demanding the immediate suspension and criminal action against police personnel of Botad police station for allegedly brutally assaulting a minor boy from the Muslim community.

Revisiting Periyar: Dialogues on caste, socialism and Dravidian identity

By Prof. K. S. Chalam* S. V. Rajadurai and Vidya Bhushan Rawat’s joint effort in bringing out a book on the most original iconoclast of South Asia, Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, titled Periyar: Caste, Nation and Socialism, published by People’s Literature Publication, Mumbai, is now available on Amazon and Flipkart . This volume presents an innovative method of documenting the pioneering contributions of a leader like Periyar, and it reflects the scholarship of Rajadurai, who has played a pivotal role in popularizing Periyar in English.

1857 War of Independence... when Hindu-Muslim separatism, hatred wasn't an issue

"The Sepoy Revolt at Meerut", Illustrated London News, 1857 By Shamsul Islam* Large sections of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs unitedly challenged the greatest imperialist power, Britain, during India’s First War of Independence which began on May 10, 1857; the day being Sunday. This extraordinary unity, naturally, unnerved the firangees and made them realize that if their rule was to continue in India, it could happen only when Hindus and Muslims, the largest two religious communities were divided on communal lines.

Bhojpuri cinema’s crisis: When popularity becomes an excuse for vulgarity

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Bhojpuri cinema is expanding rapidly. Songs from new films are eagerly awaited, and the industry is hailed for its booming business. Yet, big money and mass popularity do not automatically translate into quality cinema or meaningful content. The market has compelled us to celebrate numbers, even when what is being produced is deeply troubling.

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

Counterview

Search This Blog