Call to synergise Hindi, Urdu

NEW DELHI: Writing Urdu in the Devnagari script would help widen the canvas of its literature, accoring to HRD minister Murli Manohar Joshi.
A better interaction was needed among all Indian languages to consolidate Indian culture so it could withstand the onslaught of the ‘‘Westerly winds’’ that globalisation brings, the minister said. He was speaking at at the 122nd Premchand birth anniversary celebrations that began on Wednesday under the aegis of the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language.The best example of a composite literary genre was provided by Munshi Premchand, who wrote in both the languages even as he enriched the art of communicating to the masses, he said.
‘‘We need a new Premchand,’’ Joshi observed, agreeing with poet-filmmakerGulzar. Most of what Premchand said of Indian society was relevant even today. Conditions in the Indian countryside was now worse than what Premchand described, Gulzar said. One could not separate Urdu and Hindi. ‘‘A Hindi film was 70 per cent Urdu. These are languages we speak every day — call it Urdu, Hindi or Hindustani,’’ he said.