Mumbai: There are demands to revive the Urdu edition of the state government’s Lokrajya magazine which was discontinued during the covid epidemic.
Samajwadi Party Member of the Legislative Assembly, Rais Shaikh, said during the assembly session that Urdu is spoken by around 7.5 million speakers in Maharashtra. Shaikh has written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, urging him to resume its publication.
Shaikh said that he has urged Fadnavis to direct the Directorate General of Information and Public Relations to restart the Urdu edition in order to cater to Urdu-speaking readers across Maharashtra.
The Lokrajya magazine, first published in Marathi in 1947, was later released in English, Hindi, Gujarati, and Urdu. According to Audit Bureau of Circulations data, Lokrajya has been one of the most widely read government magazines in the country, said Shaikh.
"However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Urdu edition was discontinued from April 2020. There are 75 lakh Urdu speakers in Maharashtra. Urdu is the ninth most spoken language in the country and is not limited to any one religion—it's a Hindustani language,” said Shaikh.
Shaikh further noted that Urdu’s presence has grown in the Deccan region, including Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Gulbarga, Hyderabad, and Vellore.
Citing the legacy of Urdu journalism in the freedom movement and its contribution to Bollywood, Shaikh said about 25 dailies are published in Urdu in Maharashtra.
"Urdu literature and newspapers have played a key role in India's independence and in Bollywood. The Urdu edition of Lokrajya was in circulation since 1974 and served as a crucial source of information on government schemes and policy decisions to the community and all Urdu loving people. Therefore, I urge the state government to restart the Urdu edition as soon as possible," added Shaikh.
Recently, Shaikh raised the issue of the relocation of the Urdu Sahitya Akademi from the Old Custom House in Fort. The Maharashtra government put the relocation plan on hold after Shaikh moved a calling attention motion in the assembly on the matter.
