International Academic Conference Ends At MANUU
- Scholars discuss Urdu, Hindi, Arabic, and Persian languages
- Sessions explore literature, culture, and intellectual exchanges at MANUU
Hyderabad: The two-day International Academic Conference titled “Urdu, Hindi, Arabic & Persian – Civilizational Consilience Across Linguistic, Literary, Cultural and Intellectual Exchanges” concluded successfully today at Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU). The event brought together eminent scholars and intellectuals from universities and institutions across India and abroad, highlighting the shared civilizational and cultural heritage reflected in these languages.
On the second day, Dr. Syed Taqi Abedi from Canada served as the guest speaker during the first session, while Prof. Syed Ainul Hasan, Vice Chancellor of MANUU, presided over the proceedings. The session focused on the theme “Islamicate Intellectual History.” In his presidential address, Prof. Hasan said that Allama Iqbal was greatly influenced by Sayyid Jamal al-dīn al-Afghani, a strong advocate of Pan Islam. He described Iqbal as a poet of humanity and remarked, “If a poet is not secular, he can’t be considered as a poet. A poet has to be secular.” Dr. Abedi highlighted the common social, cultural, and human values portrayed in Allama Iqbal’s Urdu and Persian poetry.
In another session titled “Comparison as Relations,” Dr. Arthur Dudney from the University of Cambridge delivered a talk on “Literary Innovation in Mughal-Safavid Persian and the Beginning of Urdu Poetry.” The following sessions featured Prof. Shreesh Chaudhary from IIT Madras, who discussed “Towards a Grammar of Mixed Languages,” and Prof. Panchanan Mohanty from the University of Hyderabad and MANUU, who spoke on “How many Cases in Hindi-Urdu?”.
Later sessions explored “Words and Worlds: Literary and Cultural Affinities” and “Urdu Literature: Regional and Transregional Influences.” The conference ended with paper presentations on “Cultural Poetics: Aesthetics, Translation, and History of Ideas.” Prof. Ishtiaque Ahmed, Registrar, MANUU, presented a paper on “Re-Examining the Discourse of Modernity in New Persian Poetry.”
At the valedictory session, guest speaker Prof. Sangeeta Bagga-Gupta from Jönköping University, Sweden, delivered an address titled “The Necessity of Bringing Back Humanism into the Language Sciences: Reflections on Civilizational Consilience.” Several eminent scholars, including Dr. Amir Ali, Dr. Irfanullah Farooqi, Dr. Md. Danish Iqbal, Prof. Syed A. Sayeed, Prof. Jyoti Sabharwal, and Prof. Syed Sajjad Hussain, presented research papers during the conference.
Faculty members and researchers from MANUU, including Prof. Syed Alim Ashraf, Prof. Mohammad Abdul Sami Siddiqui, Prof. Syed Mahmood Kazmi, and Dr. Iftekhar Ahmad, also presented papers across sessions, emphasizing the university’s growing role as a leading hub for research in linguistic and cultural studies.
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