Urdu Cultural Events in Dubai United Arab Emirates

Urdu Cultural Events Dubai

Javed Akhtar sahab receiving Josh-e-Urdu Award for 2015. — Javed Akhtar sahab receiving Josh-e-Urdu Award for 2015

Bazm-e-Urdu Dubai is a non-profitable, non-religious, and non-political organisation working for the propagation of Urdu Language by organising urdu cultural events in Dubai. It was founded in Dubai (UAE) a few years ago by Rehan Ahmad Khan, a bachelor from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Kharagpur).

Mehfil-e-Urdu 2014 token of gratitude presented to Mahesh Bhatt sahab

Bazm-e-Urdu Dubai is the first and the only social club, working towards the upliftment of Urdu, which is licensed by the Community Development Authority Dubai. As part of this effort, it has been organising urdu cultural events in Dubai including:

- Mehfil-e-Urdu, an annual event which has seen the likes of Nandita Das, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Javed Akhtar, Tom Altar, Shabana Azmi and Kanwaljit Singh.
- Josh-e-Urdu Award for service to Urdu. The award in memory of renowned poet, Josh Malihabadi, is awarded annually to an individual or organisation to recognise their efforts for Urdu.
- The organisation collaborated for the 2019 Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF) and announced an array of activities throughout the fest.

Ru-ba-ru: In conversation with Nandita Das and Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Bazm-e-Urdu was formed because of Rehan Khan’s love for Urdu. He was then joined in by equally passionate volunteers and lovers of Urdu from all over the UAE. These volunteers are professionals, intellectuals, students, and others, who are equally immersed in the charisma and love of Urdu language.

Urdu is spoken by millions of people in India and it is the national language and a lingua franca of Pakistan. It is widely spoken and understood as the second language in Nepal, Bangladesh, and the Arabian Gulf and is considered a lingua franca in the Indian subcontinent too. It is also one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.

Bazm-e Urdu believes that Urdu is a language of masses which unfortunately has been harmed by various individuals and political parties due to their vested interests. Bazm-e-Urdu’s purpose is to revive Urdu and reinstate its glory and magnificence that it truly deserves. Bazm-e Urdu has taken steps in this direction and gained popularity and repute within its circle due to the exclusivity of its presentations.

Our Vision

To see Urdu regain the status it deserves globally as one of the most spoken and understood languages of majority of the people of Indian subcontinent living around the world. To unite lovers of Urdu on one platform irrespective of their native language, color, religion and geography, undermining all factors that divide people in this world. In other words, to see Urdu evolve as the language of Love, Unity, Humanity, Tolerance and Peace.

Our Mission

To endeavor and take all required steps to unite the lovers of Urdu across the world for Urdu to be recognized as one of the most commonly spoken and understood languages not only across the Indian subcontinent but also by those who have their roots in these regions but have been living in different parts of the globe. To create occasions where the whole world can witness and appreciate the beauty and finesse of this language, popularizing it further across boundaries, cultures and religions. To instill a sense of pride in young generation about Urdu and its etiquette. To keep on promoting Urdu as an optional subject in as many schools as possible throughout the world so that it becomes part of regular curriculum (Bazm-e-Urdu takes immense pride in having already introduced Urdu as an optional subject in some of the very prominent schools in India).