25 February 2013
PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release
URDU MEDIA MONITOR LAUNCHED
A
special website has been launched for non-Urdu readers who have a
genuine desire to read what is being reported in the Urdu press and for
those for whom Urdu speakers and Urdu readers both belong to a
mysterious world living in their fanaticise suspecting and inventing
conspiracies against themselves.
In its “About us” page Urdu Media Monitor, a newly born baby in the cyber world, introduces itself as, “Urdu that only about sixty years ago was the lingua franca of the Indian subcontinent, is now very simplistically associated with Pakistan or Muslims in north India.
“So
unfortunate is now the status of this language that in both countries,
India in particular, Urdu press is looked upon with disdain and often
accused of sensationalism and misreporting. However the fact remains
that it is still a vibrant and representative language of a vast sect of
the community.
“Urdu
Media Monitor (UMM) is a humble attempt aimed at making accessible to
non-Urdu readers, by translating into English, selected articles,
editorials and news items published in major Indian and Pakistani press
and social media.
“Depending
on the contents and quality of articles, we will also translate and
produce useful and educational write-ups on past events and
personalities that have been deliberately and mischievously dumped and
buried in the archives only to be occasionally remembered in the Urdu
press.
“We
welcome suggestions from our readers whose appreciation and positive
criticism will help us in making this site really useful.”
