Events & Updates
Young scholars showcase research at Ghalib Institute seminar
The inaugural session was held on September 4, followed by four sessions on September 5. The first session, chaired by Dr Safina, professor in the Department of Urdu, Jawaharlal Nehru University, featured papers on Persian language and literature in Rohilkhand, 18th-century Lucknow’s customs and manners, prose styles of the 18th century and the criticism of Waris Alvi
TDJ News Service
05 Sep, 2026
New Delhi: Young researchers presented papers on Urdu literature, language, history and society at the three-day International Research Scholar Seminar organised by the Ghalib Institute and the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language.
The inaugural session was held on September 4, followed by four sessions on September 5. The first session, chaired by Dr Safina, professor in the Department of Urdu, Jawaharlal Nehru University, featured papers on Persian language and literature in Rohilkhand, 18th-century Lucknow’s customs and manners, prose styles of the 18th century and the criticism of Waris Alvi.
Dr Safina said the seminar provided an important platform for training emerging writers and researchers. Recalling her own participation as a paper presenter, she described her return as chairperson as an emotional moment.
The second session, chaired by Javed Hassan, professor of Urdu at Jamia Millia Islamia, focused on fiction, women’s writing, social consciousness and historiography. Hassan said teachers as well as institutions played an important role in a scholar’s development, adding that the seminar helped researchers sharpen both their ideas and their presentation skills.
The third session, chaired by Mushtaq Alam Qadri, featured papers on Mir Taqi Mir and Rasool Mir, post-colonial criticism, the novelist Peegham Afaqi, and a comparative study of selected social and political novels in Urdu and Arabic.
Qadri stressed the importance of language in connecting communities and said proficiency in both local languages and the language of global communication was essential.
The fourth session, chaired by Khan Muhammad Asif, dealt with contemporary Urdu fiction, 21st-century Urdu poetry, changing social realities and Qurratulain Hyder’s novel in the perspective of Abul Kalam Qasmi.
Asif rejected the notion that the younger generation was uninterested in study or serious thinking, saying differences between generations could lead to new ideas and fresh conclusions.
The remaining sessions of the seminar will be held on September 6 from 10 am to 5 pm.
Tags : Urdu, Seminar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Qurratulain Hyder, Ghalib
