Thursday, April 02, 2009

Indian Muslims and Arabic

I am in the habit of pointing out to Indian Muslims that the difference in how pervasive neo-purist fanaticism is in Pakistan verus India is only one of degree. Especially when they bring out their "We told you so; it was a bad idea to begin with! See all the fanaticism you have in your country!" line. And don't get me wrong; I think learning Arabic is a wonderful thing for anyone, especially Muslims or anyone who wants their grasp on Urdu literature. (And Persian/Farsi helps, too.) But why is the National Council for the Promotion of the Urdu Language (http://www.urducouncil.nic.in/) in India advertising an Two Year Diploma in Functional Arabic on their website, but only a One Year Diploma in Urdu?!

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