No matter, how much English phobia has driven in the veins of our people but the fact is, Urdu is still our national language and a big chunk of populace used to talk in Urdu.
In Pakistan, the major part of curriculum and business affairs are sorted in English language but the significance of Urdu language couldn’t be washed out.
In order to maintain the implication of Urdu language, President Mamnoon Hussain has inaugurated digital edition of Urdu dictionary in Islamabad today.
Now, the 22-volume dictionary, containing 264,000 words will be available worldwide online.
While talking at the launching ceremony, the President said that launching this dictionary has carried out the Urdu language forward amongst the ranks of global languages with high majesty.
He further stated that the dictionary is also insightful of our one thousand years of cultural traditions and such initiatives will help out us to protect our mores against foreign cultural invasion.
The President articulated self-assurance that Urdu Dictionary Board will carry on research to update the dictionary on a regular basis.
On the other hands, he also suggested that voice capabilities should be added to the dictionary to assist people to know the pronunciation of words.
Irfan Siddiqui, Prime Minister’s Advisor on National History and Cultural Heritage said the task has been finished in two years at a cost of 13.2 million rupees and work has been started for a version with multimedia capabilities.
According to Irfan Siddiqui, a shortened version of the dictionary is being arranged for children even as work is in being done to prepare Lughat-e-Iqbal and Lughat-e-Ghalib, holding rare and uncommon words used by the famous poets in their poetry.
Irfan Siddiqui also declared that offices of Academy of Letters would be set up in Dadu, Muzaffarabad, Gilgit, FATA, and Multan.
National Book Foundation sold books worth 350 million rupees last year, Irfan said.
Many individuals have appreciated the move taken by the government as it will add value to Urdu language and preserve the nation’s cultural heritage.
