One of the major languages of India, Urdu finds its place among the languages included in the VIII Schedule of the Constitution. This north Indian language has made significant contributions to the promotion of secular values before and after Partition ... Urdu literature, specially its poetry, has drawn profusely, at least to begin with, from Persian sources. However, that does not make a language foreign ...

Urdu has drawn heavily from secular Persian sources, not religious ones. The Persian ghazal drew its inspiration either from Sufi sources or from secular human values ... Urdu imbibed the best secular traditions of the Persian literature.

Urdu literature is basically inspired by humanistic values, both poetry as well as fiction ... It is a tragedy that Urdu is considered the language of Muslims. Nothing is farther from the truth ... Urdu was never the language of Muslims alone, nor of all Muslims in India ... Some of the greatest writers and poets (of Urdu) have been non-Muslims ... (Many) writers who belonged to the progressive movement ... wrote poems, short stories or novels which were highly critical of the creation of Pakistan and dividing the people of India on the basis of religion ..

... The charge that Urdu is the language of Pakistan and that it promoted the idea of Pakistan is baseless and cannot be sustained by objective scrutiny. In fact Urdu has been instrumental in fighting communalism and the idea of two nations ... Urdu can in no way be held responsible for Partition, as some people maintain. It is a language which is representative of the composite culture of India and has been instrumental in promoting secularism and secular values.     (Source: The Azad Academy Journal, 1-31 May, 1998)

Government Statement On Urdu Newspapers