Urdu literature plagiarism

One way to indicate the health of the literature of any language is the check the extent of plagiarism in it. Unfortunately, the Urdu literature is showing very bad trends of plagiarism.

The Urdu writers of both India and Pakistan are producing great pieces of work. However, it is really a shame that there are not enough laws and punishments to save the rights of these writers. Their work is constantly being plagiarized. Both countries are responsible for this trend.

Many literary works from India are published in Pakistan with different names and unfortunately, people never get to know about the original writer. The situation is just as bad in India. Pakistan produces some great popular fiction digests in Urdu language. One of such digests is called Pakeezah.

In India, the whole Pakeezah digest is republished and distributed with a different name. No one asks for the permission of the writers or the publishing bodies before re-producing and publishing their work.

The plagiarism in Urdu literature can prove to be fatal for the growth of Urdu literature. Right now, there are many writers producing great pieces of work. However, with continuous plagiarism they might get discouraged.

Another trend that is rampant in Pakistan is to publish the “collections” of excellent works of different writers together. The basic idea is that a person compiles some good poems or stories by different writers and gets it published to make money. The real writers are never given any sum of the profits and they are never asked for permission.