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| Urdu: Will It Get Its Due Ever? | |
Asad Mirza
Last week, a Supreme Court bench’s observation on the use of Urdu, has once again opened a pandora’s box, on the treatment meted out to Urdu – a language of connoisseurs, but which has been appended to the Muslim community. As in the past, this time too, nothing worthwhile would come out of this development, as Urdu has been relegated to its current status by the Urdu lovers only.
A Supreme Court bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice K Vinod Chandran while hearing a petition by Varshatai Sanjay Bagade, a former councillor of Patur in Maharashtra's Akola district rejected a challenge to the use of Urdu on the signboard of a Municipality in Maharashtra.
Ms Bagade had challenged the use of Urdu, along with Marathi, on the nameboard of the municipal council. She had argued that the work of the Municipal Council can only be conducted in Marathi, and the use of Urdu is impermissible, even on the signboard.
In its observations the two judges referred to many oft repeated sentiments regarding the Urdu language.
The honourable judges while taking an extract from a Nazm by poet Iqbal Ashhar, noted that if Urdu was to speak for herself, she would say:
urdu hai mirā naam, maiñ 'Khusrav' kī pahelī
kyuuñ mujh ko banāte ho ta.assub kā nishāna
maiñ ne to kabhī ḳhud ko musalmāñ nahīñ maanā
dekhā thā kabhī maiñ ne bhī ḳhushiyoñ kā zamāna
apne hī vatan meñ huuñ magar aaj akelī, urdu hai mirā naam maiñ 'Khusrav' kī pahelī
(Urdu is my name, I am the riddle of 'Khusro' Do not hold me for your prejudices I never considered myself a Muslim I too have seen happier times I feel like an outsider in my homeland today Urdu is my name, I am the riddle of 'Khusro')
The learned judges further rightly commented that any language can’t be described as a religion and to consider Urdu as a language of Muslims is a “pitiable digression” from reality and unity in diversity of India.
“Language belongs to a community, to a region, to people; and not to a religion. Language is culture. Language is the yardstick to measure the civilisational march of a community and its people. So is the case of Urdu, which is the finest specimen of Ganga-Jamuni tahzeeb, or the Hindustani tahzeeb, which is the composite cultural ethos of the plains of northern and central India. But before language became a tool for learning, its earliest and primary purpose will always remain communication," the court said.
The court observed that the Patur Municipal Council had retained Urdu on the nameboard because many local residents understood the language. All the municipal council wanted to do was to make an effective communication, the court said.
The court said a Municipal Council provides services to the local community and caters to their immediate day-to-day needs. "If people or a group of people, residing within the area covered by the Municipal Council are familiar with Urdu, then there should not be any objection if Urdu is used in addition to the official language i.e. Marathi, at least on the signboard of the Municipal Council. Language is a medium for exchange of ideas that brings people holding diverse views and beliefs closer and it should not become a cause of their division."
Apparently, the bench aptly surmised that, "The prejudice against Urdu stems from the misconception that Urdu is alien to India. This opinion, we are afraid, is incorrect as Urdu, like Marathi and Hindi, is an Indo-Aryan language. It is a language which was born in this land. Urdu developed and flourished in India due to the need for people belonging to different cultural milieus who wanted to exchange ideas and communicate amongst themselves. Over the centuries, it attained ever greater refinement and became the language of choice for many acclaimed poets."
The court said that the fusion of Hindi and Urdu met a roadblock in the form of the puritans on both sides and Hindi became more Sanskritised and Urdu more Persianised. “A schism was exploited by the colonial powers in dividing the two languages on religion. Hindi was now understood to be the language of Hindus and Urdu of the Muslims, which is such a pitiable digression from reality; from unity in diversity; and the concept of universal brotherhood.”
The Court pointed out that the Constitution mentions 22 Indian languages in its 8th Schedule, which includes both Marathi and Urdu, and significantly, ‘English’ is not a language mentioned in the Schedule as it is not an Indian language.
The court further observed that the Hindustani language used by the masses is replete with Urdu even if one is not aware of it. "It would not be incorrect to say that one cannot have a day-to-day conversation in Hindi without using words of Urdu or words derived from Urdu. The word 'Hindi' itself comes from the Persian word 'Hindavi'." it said.
This exchange of vocabulary flows both ways because Urdu also has many words borrowed from other Indian languages, including Sanskrit. Furthermore, Urdu words have a heavy influence on the judiciary, both in criminal and civil laws and in the police vocabulary, though recently many overzealous stater governments have given directives to state police forces to adopt Hindi or words from the official state language in official correspondence and FIR filing and reporting.
Words like; Mukaddama (case), Mulzim (accused), Ilzam (allegation), Ittila (information), Chashmdeed (eyewitness), Mustaghees (complainant), Jeb Tarashi (pick pocketing), Ferd Baramadgi (recovery memo), Adalat(court) to Halafnama (deposition) to Peshi (hearing date) abound in court and police correspondence.
Basically, the Three Language Formula of 1968 acts as the main villain against the use and spread of Urdu in India, in the name of promoting state languages of different states along with English and Hindi, as compulsory languages at school level.
The Urdu lovers have been giving similar response on these issues whenever rabble rousers raise banners against Urdu while promoting Hindi, but these forces are not ready to listen to any sane word in favour of Urdu. Thus, the observation by the two learned judges will also be forgotten very soon, while anti-India and anti-Urdu elements will continue their tirade in absence of any collective response from the Urdu lovers of the country.
In its concluding remarks, the Court urged that our misconceptions, perhaps even our prejudices against a language must be courageously and truthfully tested against the reality, which is this great diversity of India, “Our strength can never be our weakness. Let us make friends with Urdu and every language.”
(Asad Mirza is a New Delhi-based senior commentator on national, international, defence and strategic affairs, environmental issues, an interfaith practitioner, and a media consultant.)
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