New Delhi, January 15, 2026: A five-day national workshop on developing a Learner’s Glossary of Social Sciences from English to Hindi wrapped up on January 14 at Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), hosted by the university’s Department of Political Science in collaboration with the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT), Ministry of Education, Government of India.
Prof. Mazhar Asif’s Call to Break Colonial Mindset
In the valedictory address at the M.N. Meenai Seminar Room, JMI Vice-Chancellor Prof. Mazhar Asif – also Chairman of the Town Official Language Implementation Committee (Delhi Central-1), Ministry of Home Affairs – urged prioritizing Indian languages to shed colonial influences. “A false sense of modernity poisons minds. We must counter this by embracing the Indian Knowledge System (IKS),” he said, praising efforts to translate political and social sciences terms into Hindi and other Indian languages.
Prof. Asif, a renowned linguist and translator, stressed contextualizing geography, history, and culture in translations for Schedule VIII languages. He commended the 13-expert team for compiling the Hindi glossary and advised vigilance on translation authenticity across Indian languages.
Key Speakers Highlight Language Revival
Workshop coordinator Prof. Naved Jamal welcomed attendees, invoking Gandhi’s push for Hindi/Hindustani and Bhartendu Harishchandra’s national language awakening. He also noted Prof. D.S. Kothari’s foundational role in CSTT (1960-1965).
Prof. Bulbul Dhar-James, Head of Political Science, introduced the theme. Dr. Shahzad Ahmad Ansari outlined CSTT’s mandate. Dean of Social Sciences Prof. Muslim Khan and Dr. Saroj Kumar Das spoke, with Das reinforcing Harishchandra’s Nij Bhasha Unnati (development in one’s own language).
Participants and Closing
Experts from across India included Prof. Veishna Narang (JNU), Prof. Rajendra Kumar Pandey (Deshbandhu College, DU), Prof. Praveen Kumar Jha (DU), Dr. Saroj Kumar (Govt. Meera Girls College, Udaipur), Dr. Akhashna Singh (ASRD College, DU), and others from DU, JMI, Bihar, and Delhi schools. JMI’s Political Science faculty and Hindi Adhikari Dr. Rajesh Kumar attended.
Dr. Shashi Kant proposed a vote of thanks, quoting poet Majaz Lakhnavi’s couplet on women’s empowerment from Prof. Asif’s address: “तेरे माथे पे यह आँचल बहुत खूब है लेकिन, तू इस आँचल से एक परचम बना लेती तो अच्छा था।” (This veil on your forehead is beautiful, but it would have been better if you had made a flag out of it.)
CSTT, established in 1960 via Presidential Order, develops terminology for scientific textbooks and glossaries in categories like fundamental, comprehensive, definitional, and learner-oriented.
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