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Saudi Arabia Takes Part in Conference of Ministers of Culture in Islamic World in Qatar

Saudi Assistant Minister of Culture Rakan bin Ibrahim Al-Touq speaks at the event. (SPA)
Saudi Assistant Minister of Culture Rakan bin Ibrahim Al-Touq speaks at the event. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Takes Part in Conference of Ministers of Culture in Islamic World in Qatar

Saudi Assistant Minister of Culture Rakan bin Ibrahim Al-Touq speaks at the event. (SPA)
Saudi Assistant Minister of Culture Rakan bin Ibrahim Al-Touq speaks at the event. (SPA)

Saudi Assistant Minister of Culture Rakan bin Ibrahim Al-Touq participated in the 12th Conference of Ministers of Culture in the Islamic World, which was held by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) in Qatar between September 25 and 26.

The event, organized by the Qatari Ministry of Culture under the theme "Renewing Cultural Work in the Islamic World", brought together ministers of culture, members of the organization from Islamic countries, and representatives of regional and international organizations concerned with cultural affairs.

Al-Touq, who was attending on behalf of Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud, said Saudi Arabia has mobilized all its potential to boost the Islamic cultural sector and maintain its place on the world's cultural map.

It has sought to deepen the debate on the main characteristics of the Islamic world, which are not limited to its culture and enlightening values, its history and civilization, and its contribution to the heritage of humanity, but include academic and economic features, he remarked.

He stressed that the initiatives and programs announced by Saudi Arabia emphasize the keenness of the government of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to lend support to all efforts that serve the Islamic world and help preserve its culture.

Speaking at the conference, Al-Touq revealed the launch of the Culture Index in the Islamic World project, in cooperation with ICESCO, which will activate a memorandum of understanding signed by the Ministry of Culture and ICESCO on the sidelines of the 23rd session of the Conference of Arab Culture Ministers.

He said through the project, the Ministry of Culture seeks to monitor the transformation and evolution of the cultural scene and document its achievements. It will enrich it through cultural indicators: culture for economic development, culture for environment, climate and resilience, culture for social development, and culture for openness and diversity.

Al-Touq also unveiled the Paths of Hajj program that will focus on building files and databases to identify and classify mosques, and heritage and historical sites on Hajj routes, help efforts aimed at preserving and protecting them, and support all sectors associated with the performance of the holy pilgrimage.

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Culture

Fading Literature: Delhi's Famed Urdu Bazaar on Last Legs

A student sits beneath packed shelves at the Hazrat Shah Waliullah public library - AFP
A student sits beneath packed shelves at the Hazrat Shah Waliullah public library - AFP
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Fading Literature: Delhi's Famed Urdu Bazaar on Last Legs

A student sits beneath packed shelves at the Hazrat Shah Waliullah public library - AFP
A student sits beneath packed shelves at the Hazrat Shah Waliullah public library - AFP

In the bustling heart of Old Delhi, Indian bookseller Mohammed Mahfooz Alam sits forlorn in his quiet store, among the last few selling literature in a language beloved by poets for centuries.

Urdu, spoken by many millions today, has a rich past that reflects how cultures melded to forge India's complex history.

But its literature has been subsumed by the cultural domination of Hindi, struggling against false perceptions that its elegant Perso-Arabic script makes it a foreign import and a language of Muslims in the Hindu-majority nation.

"There was a time when, in a year, we would see 100 books being published," said 52-year-old Alam, lamenting the loss of the language and its readership.
The narrow streets of Urdu Bazaar, in the shadow of the 400-year-old Jama Masjid mosque, were once the core of the city's Urdu literary community, a center of printing, publishing and writing.

Today, streets once crowded with Urdu bookstores abuzz with scholars debating literature are now thick with the aroma of sizzling kebabs from the restaurants that have replaced them.

Only half a dozen bookstores are left.

"Now, there are no takers," Alam said, waving at the streets outside. "It is now a food market."

- Dying 'day by day' -

Urdu, one of the 22 languages enshrined under India's constitution, is the mother tongue of at least 50 million people in the world's most populous country. Millions more speak it, as well as in neighbouring Pakistan.

But while Urdu is largely understood by speakers of India's most popular language Hindi, their scripts are entirely different.

Alam says he can see Urdu literature dying "day by day".

The Maktaba Jamia bookshop he manages opened a century ago. Alam took over its running this year driven by his love for the language.

"I have been sitting since morning, and barely four people have come," he said gloomily. "And even those were college or school-going children who want their study books."

Urdu, sharing Hindi's roots and mingled with words from Persian and Arabic, emerged as a hybrid speech between those who came to India through trade and conquest -- and the people they settled down amongst.

But Urdu has faced challenges in being viewed as connected to Islamic culture, a popular perception that has grown since the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in 2014.

- 'Feel the beauty' -

For centuries, Urdu was a key language of governance.

Sellers first set up stores in the Urdu Bazaar in the 1920s, selling stacks of books from literature to religion, politics and history -- as well as texts in Arabic and Persian.

By the 1980s, more lucrative fast-food restaurants slowly moved in, but the trade dropped dramatically in the past decade, with more than a dozen bookshops shutting down.

"With the advent of the internet, everything became easily available on the mobile phone," said Sikander Mirza Changezi, who co-founded a library to promote Urdu in Old Delhi in 1993.

"People started thinking buying books is useless, and this hit the income of booksellers and publishers, and they switched to other businesses."

The Hazrat Shah Waliullah Public Library, which Changezi helped create, houses thousands of books including rare manuscripts and dictionaries.

It is aimed at promoting the Urdu language.

Student Adeeba Tanveer, 27, who has a masters degree in Urdu, said the library provided a space for those wanting to learn.

"The love for Urdu is slowly coming back," Tanveer told AFP, adding that her non-Muslim friends were also keen to learn.

"It is such a beautiful language," she said. "You feel the beauty when you speak it."