Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi recently launched an Urdu poetry album 'Shayarana - Sartaj'. The heart and soul behind the Urdu album is Satinder Sartaaj. It comprises beautiful poetries in the nearly extinct 'Urdu' language from Punjab. Speaking at its event, Javed Akhtar emphasised the importance of the Urdu language and the role Punjab played in its past growth and prominence. The lyricist-writer also stressed that Urdu language doesn't belong to Pakistan or Egypt, but to 'Hindustan'.
Explaining the importance of Urdu language, Javed Akhtar said "Urdu hasn't come from any other place...it is our own language. It isn't spoken outside Hindustan...Pakistan also came into existence after partition from India, earlier it was a part of India only. So, the language isn't spoken outside Hindustan..."
"Punjab has a big contribution towards Urdu and it is the language of India! But why did you leave this language? Because of partition? Because of Pakistan? Urdu should be given attention. Earlier it was only Hindustan - Pakistan later separated from Hindustan. Now Pakistan said that Kashmir is ours...will you believe that? I think 'No'! Likewise, Urdu is a Hindustan(i) language and it remains (so). Nowadays, new generation youths speak less Urdu and Hindi in our country. Today more focus is on English. We must speak in Hindi because it's our national language". He further said, "Language is not based on religions, but of regions. If language was based on religion, then the whole of Europe would have one language. That's why the language is not of religion, but of the region."
On the other hand, Shabana Azmi added, "See Sartaj is a very good singer and writes in Punjabi and I have worked with him in Black Prints and played the role of his mother. And we used to meet on a lot of shoots, I knew that he is very fond of poetry and writes Punjabi, but I was very surprised to know that he writes in Urdu. The idea of releasing the album in a visual format is a very good idea and he wanted to reach this Urdu poetry album to people and so will it."
If we talk about Urdu poetry, it is less visible in today's songs, so do you hope that more people can understand and read the films that have been made into songs? "In today's world, no one is doing justice to the language, so it is obvious that the same thing is happening with Urdu and in our surroundings, all the words are getting smaller," she added.
Meanwhile, Javed Akhtar recently created a buzz with his statement against Pakistan. Akhtar was heard saying that the perpetrators and conspirators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks were still "roaming freely" in Pakistan. A video of the poet-lyricist went viral on social media where he is purportedly heard speaking about "bitterness" in the hearts of Indians over the 26/11 attacks. Calling himself as someone who has made remarks that were "slightly controversial and sensitive in nature" in India, Akhtar said he was not scared to speak his mind while in Pakistan.
