The dilapidated Public Urdu Library in Ranchi. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, May 26: There have been repeated demands from the minority community of the state to make Urdu an official language. However, the condition of the lone Urdu Library in the capital doesn’t show much regard for the language among those who read it.

The Urdu library in Ranchi was established in 1945. The library hall was built by Wali Mohammud, a dry fruit wholesaler. But, fond memories are all that are left to the library now.

Years of neglect have taken their toll on the library. The library hall has not been repaired even once.

The library has now reduced to a reading room. Only a handful of readers sit there. Two ceiling fans rotate slowly above their heads to produce a creaking noise rather than cool breeze. The fan is as old as the library itself. Librarian Md Ansarul Haque said, “Books are not issued anymore. We stopped enrolling members for the last ten years. The reason behind the decision was that people posed as our members and stole many books. Even members didn’t return the rare and priceless titles. Our secretary visited their houses, individually, for recovering the borrowed books. But no one returned them.”

“The library now has only 2000 books now. Most of them are Urdu titles. A few English classics are also there. The pages of the books, which have been locked in the cupboard for ages, have turned yellow and crumbly. No one remembers when the cupboards were opened to sunlight for the last time. The furniture is creaky,” said Haque.

Though the library doors are opened regularly, ventilation is very poor. There are no proper windows.

The present state of decay is in stark contrast to the frequent mushayiras, which were conducted here. Renowned poets like Bequal Utsahi and Kumar Barabanki came and read out verses to an audience which understood and appreciated.

The library had rare collections of Ghalib, Jhauk, and Mir taki Mir. All of them were stolen. One can easily come across books with the rubber stamp mark of the Urdu Library in the second-hand bookstalls.

All of these had been stolen from the library and sold at throwaway prices. The library is run by a trust and gets no help from the government. The fund generated is very irregular. A meagre amount of Rs.2000 is collected from the members, from shops that are let out on rent in the library premises and from stores on the opposite side of the road. “The library suffers from lack of maintenance due to scarcity of funds,” said Haque.

Local people have further contributed to the problem.

Stalls of cigarettes, tea, ready-made cloth, which surround the library, hook electricity from the library.

Residents and shoppers do not give a second thought before dirtying the place. “I come here everyday to have tea. But I never noticed the library at all. In fact, I don’t know when it opens or closes. I am too busy chatting with my friends at the tea shop”, said a local resident.

The Library also has a collection of old magazines and newspapers, which are no longer published. However, under the present situation, chances of preservation of such documents appear to be very slim.