By TCN News,
Aligarh: An emergent meeting of All India Persian Teachers' Association (AIPTA) was held at the Institute of Persian Research, Aligarh Muslim University under the chairmanship of Prof. Azarmi Dukht Safavi, Director, Institute of Persian Studies and Research, Aligarh Muslim University and President, AIPTA to discuss the deletion of Persian and Arabic from the Union Public Service Commission examinations.
Prof. Safavi said that both these languages are an integral part of India's history and culture. Persian is the source language to study the history and civil society of medieval India. All modem Indian languages ego Punjabi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malyalam etc. posses countless Perso-Arabic words for which, even today, no synonyms in that language exist. Considering the antiquity of their impact and integration with Indian languages and culture, it will be wrong to treat Persian and Arabic as foreign languages. Also, Persian and Arabic are part of syllabi of a large number of Indian Universities and Colleges with hundreds of students studying these languages. Their deletion from civil services examination will deprive the candidates of their academic right to opt for theses languages.
A Memorandum was unanimously passed requesting the Chairman, Public Service Commission to withdraw the decision and to restore Persian and Arabic languages as optional subjects in UPSC examination. Persian and Arabic teachers from Aligarh, Kolkata, Shantiniketan, Maharashtra, Kerala, Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Lucknow and 'other parts of India participated in the meeting and signed the Memorandum.