The National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) recently introduced a form, requiring authors of the books that it acquires annually, to declare that the content will not be against the government or the country.
According to the report, the NCPUL, which comes under the Union HRD ministry-led by Smriti Irani has said that the declaration form to be filled by authors under its bulk purchase scheme was only to ensure harmony and goodwill among various sections of the society.
Karan Thapar on his show ‘To the Point’ today asked whether this decision by NCPUL is a terrible mistake or is this move justified. His panel included writer and lyricst Javed Akhtar, editor of Nai Duniya, Shahid Siddiqui, BJP leader Suddhanshu Mittal and columnist Aakar Patel.
Slamming the move by NCPUL, Akhtar also emphasised that all major Urdu writers are progressive. ‘Urdu is the most secular language of the world, but is treated like RDX’ added Akhtar.
“It is not for the academy or the govt to decide who is anti-national or not. If a mistake is made, it is the job of the publisher to correct it,” said editor of Nai Duniya, Shahid Siddiqui.
Siddiqui added,”NCPUL is an autonomous organisation but appointees are political.”
“In a democracy, anybody can criticise anyone within the framework of constitution,” BJP leader Suddhanshu Mittal said that.