BMC shuts culture centre in Dongri’s Urdu school, says it’s ‘non-educational’ initiative

Mumbai: Since a month, silence has enveloped Urdu Markaz, a centre in Dongri which once throbbed with activities featuring poor municipal schoolchildren, poets, writers and art connoisseurs.
Calling the activities of Urdu Markaz, which operated from a room at Imambada Urdu Municipal School opposite Mughal Masjid in Dongri, “non-educational”, BMC officials padlocked it on July 29, two days after notifying the centre that appropriate action will be taken by the civic body.
“We are shocked to know that holding English classes for poor kids of the municipal school and bringing Urdu and Marathi languages closer are non-educational activities. We didn’t use it for any commercial purpose and just promoted Urdu and Marathi through interaction and debate,” said Urdu Markaz’s director Zubair Azmi. Only a couple of years ago, BMC, as an acknowledgement of the Urdu services, named a nearby junction ‘Urdu Markaz Chowk’.
A BMC official told TOI: “We are looking into the reason why it has been locked.”
Run from a room of municipal school since 1999, Urdu Markaz had become a haunt of poets, writers and art lovers. It received acclaim from several quarters, including former mayor Sunil Prabhu and deputy mayor Alka Kelkar.
“Besides the festivals, Urdu Markaz trains municipal Urdu school children to acquire proficiency in English and Marathi. I have written to senior civic officials that the Markaz is a bridge between Urdu, Marathi, English and must be reopened at once,” said MLA Amin Patel.
Samajwadi Party corporator Rais Shaikh slammed the bureaucracy that had conspired to “kill” Urdu Markaz even as rooms in several other municipal schools were being used by NGOs run by politicians.
Writers and poets are the most aggrieved. “It pains me a lot. Doesn’t promotion of languages come under educational purpose? I am aghast at BMC’s move which itself named a chowk after Urdu Markaz,” said Urdu poet Abdul Ahad Saaz.
Azmi has resolved to not give up his fight. “We were not doing any criminal activity,” said Azmi who plans a fast-unto-death if it is not restored.