JEDDAH — The Urdu Academy Jeddah recently organized a literary program dubbed "Aoa Urdu Seikhien" (Let's learn Urdu) at a local restaurant here. This initiative to promote the Urdu language was part of their sixth quarterly program. The program started with the recitation of some verses from the Qur'an by Master Abdul Karim from DPS School followed by a Hamd presented by Owais-ul-haq and Obaid-ul-haq from IISJ. A Naat was presented by program coordinator Khalid Hussain Madani and a poem titled "Meri bazm main aoo hum Urdu sikha dayngay (come to us, we will teach you Urdu)" was beautifully presented by Ibrahim Riyaz. Jamal Qadri, president Urdu Academy Jeddah, addressed the gathering and said, "We always step forward for the betterment of Urdu language despite rumors about the dark future of language and its poor condition. We work hard for the betterment of Urdu language and for that we distribute school bags, books and felicitate the topper students, teachers and headmasters of Urdu schools," he said. He added: "We organize ‘Lets learn Urdu' program every three months to develop Urdu atmosphere in Jeddah students." Managing member of Academy Aslam Afgani compered the program, academy member Hashim Ali presented an article on famous poet Amir Khusro and held a quiz based on it. Tauseef Yousuf Khan presented a ‘Khabar nama' news clips in Urdu and Abdul Sattar Khan presented in a humorous way famous sayings in Urdu, which entrained the audience. Mohd Liyaqat Ali Khan showed a presentation on projector in which he highlighted the meanings of difficult Urdu words, idioms and matching the word with its correct definition. Syed Shamsuddin Khadri Mustafa briefed the audience on how to write in Urdu in social media, e-mail and WhatsApp. Prizes were distributed among audience. President of India Forum Aijaz Ahmed Khan, Trustee Kake-Taiba Trust Mohd Shamim Kausar, President United Telangana Forum Abdul Jabbar and Hasan Bayazid from Bazme-Ittehad also addressed the gathering and praised the efforts of Urdu Academy for the betterment of Urdu language. Qadri praised the efforts of their academy members for making the program a great success and specially recognized three if its members Mohd Liyaqat Ali Khan, Aslam Afghani and Sami Farooqi by giving awards of appreciation to them. Farooqi, general secretary of Urdu Academy Jeddah, proposed the vote of thanks.
