SURVIVAL and continuance of Urdu is, in fact, the survival and continuance of democracy in India, said a visiting Urdu scholar from India recently. Professor Sulaiman Ather Jawed, a noted linguist and Urdu writer and ex-faculty member of Deparatment of Urdu at Shri Venkatheshwar University, Trupathi, gave a lecture on the changing values in Urdu literature at a gathering in Riyadh organized by Tanzeem Hum Hindustani. Prof. Ather has 20 books to his credit, four of which have recieved awards from Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academies. He is the co-editor of literary monthly “Subras'' and writes a weekly literary diary in the leading Urdu daily “Siyasat” from Hyedrabad. Moh. Qaiser, the president of Tanzeem Hum Hindustani, in his welcome speech said that literature is a vital tool for Indo-Pak friendship. Javed Akhter Javed, president, Halqa e Fikr o Fun , International, presented a shawl to Professor Ather. Prof. Sulaiman Ather Jawed said values in literature change with the time and changing social and political scenario. Quoting examples from literature, he elaborated his point. He emphasized that the Aligarh Movement by Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan and his supporters laid the foundation for realism and social concern in Urdu literature that led to many important trends. __
