Addressing a huge gathering at a three-day national level `Urdu Mela' at Hutatma Smurti Hall on Friday, Jamkhanawala called upon the Urdu-speakers encourage education in the language. He said Maharashtra has the highest number of Urdu schools.

He said the language had etiquette, culture and sweetness to attract the common man. ``The language has the power to bridge broken hearts and communities and should be used for the unity of the country,"he said.

Jamkhanawala disclosed that Urdu had spread to the European countries. He came down heavily on the callous attitude of the Urdu-speaking community to the language who held the government responsible for uplifting the language.

Eminent litteratuer and expert on Mirza Ghalib, Kalidas Gupta Riza who inaugurated the mela, said before partition, Urdu was the language of the Hindus and Muslims.

He said Delhi and Lucknow were centres of Urdu. ``Now, Mumbai has become the centre and heritage of this language,'' he said. Sushilkumar Shinde who presided over the function said Urdu held sweetness and had etiquetes. Shinde quoting Persian couplets said Urdu had a new shape because of its flexibility. He called upon literary personalities to initiate efforts for unity among the people by their work.

Minister for State Pratapsinh Mohite-Patil said the saffron government was would uplift Urdu. Mohite also emphasised on women's education in the Muslim community.

President of Islahi-wa-Flahi Tanzeem, which had organised the mela, Sayyed Yakubali Khatib, conveners Basheer Parwaz and Farooque Sayyed, Savitri Gupta, MLAs Anandrao Devakate, Adam Master, Baburao Chakote, Congress city unit president Prakash Yelgulwar, Salma Siddiqui, Slambim Razzak and more than a hundred litterateurs were present.

Earlier, the Urdu mela paid rich tribute to Kusumagarj, the Marathi poet who passed away on Wednesday.In the morning, a procession of school children was taken out through the city. Book stalls, a ghazal performance by Seema Saigal, painting, seminar on journalism, dramas, folk songs, short story, fiction, singing competitions were the attraction of the mela. On Sunday, an All-India `mushaira' has been organised in the evening. Noted urdu poet Ali Sardar Jafari, Abdul Ahad Saaj, Bashar Nawaj, Iftekar Iman, Shams Jalnavi and others from all over the country are expected.