Professor Halil Toker, head of Urdu Language and Literature Chair, Istanbul University, also attended the conference at the Shah Abdul Latif University in Khairpur. Dr Toker read a paper on the history of secularism and the revival of Islam in Turkish society, and the role played by poet and journalist Najib Fazil in the revival. He has published 30 books including Iqbal aur Turk: Aik Tahqiqi Jaizah, Jadeed Turki Shairi: Ibtida Sey Aaj Tak and two collections of poetry: Aakhri Faryad and Ek Qatra Aansoo.

Here he discusses the status of Urdu in Turkey, the consequences of changing the script of the Turkish language, and the Ottomania manifested in popular culture.

Qs) How did you develop an interest in Urdu?

I used to watch Indian films such as Awara and movies of Amitabh Bachchan, and that sparked my initial interest in the language. Also, while we were growing up, our parents and other older people would tell us stories about Hindustani Muslims who played a prominent role during the Khilafat Movement. Hence, I was curious about Pakistan and its language.

What made me want to learn Urdu was a teacher from Punjab University’s Oriental College, Dr Ghulam Hussain Zulfiqar, who came to our university to teach the language. He was an excellent teacher and I studied the language under him, doing my doctorate in Persian and Urdu.

Qs) What was the topic of your PhD dissertation?

‘Bahadur Shah Zafar Kay Zamanay Kay Shua’ara Aur Unki Shae’ri’.

Qs) What is the status of Urdu in Turkey?

At my university there are currently 150 students studying Urdu as one of the subjects in their Bachelor of Arts degree. Urdu is also taught at Konya and Ankara universities.

Qs) Which Pakistani literary writers have been popular with PhD students?

Allama Iqbal, Intizar Husain, Amjad Islam Amjad and Mustansir Hussain Tarrar.

Qs) What were the consequences of replacing the Arabic script of the Turkish language with the Latin alphabet during the secularist movement in Turkey?

When the secularists such as Mustafa Kemal Pasha came into power, they were resentful of the Ottoman Caliphate, blaming it for the decline of the empire and the ills of their society. The solution, according to them, lay in adopting a Western thought and way of life. One of the measures was to change the Arabic script of the Turkish language to the Latin alphabet and this was enforced under a law in 1928. This was one way of preserving the Turkish language without completely doing away with it under the harsh enforcement of secular democracy in Turkey.

But there are 600 years of the Osmania language (this is what we call the Turkish language when it used to be written in the Arabic script) that have been lost to us because there is no one who can read it. We don’t have access to it and this has created a huge cultural gap.

Qs) How do you see the Ottomania trend manifesting in television and other mediums of popular culture?

There has been a lot of criticism, particularly in the Urdu press, alleging that dramas such as Ishq-i-Mamnun and Mera Sultan are indecent. This is a false allegation as Turkish dramas are a reflection of our society. Not many people know this but Ishq-i-Mamnun is based on a novel.

Dramas such as Mera Sultan [based on the life of Suleiman the Magnificent] while not historically accurate have created an interest in history amongst the youngsters and now they are reading historical accounts of the Ottoman era. This is a positive development.

Qs) What are you working on these days?

I am working on a book about Indian nationalists who had gathered in Istanbul during 1910 to 1918 and were working together to remove the British from their homeland.