The Proverbial Tower Of Babel (Bruegel)
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
14 March
2023
It's a Matter of Pity That Both the
Structurally Identical Languages Have Been Pitted Against Each Other Just Because
Of Their Different Scripts; While Hindi Follows Devnagari Script, Urdu Follows Nastaliq
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Mr
Prakhar's article, ' The
Philosophy Of Hindi-Urdu Debate, ' hits the nail on the head. All those
who're genuinely interested in languages and are concerned about the decline in
this sphere, must read this article and also mull over it.
Overwhelmed
by the marauding march of English in all sections and sectors of life, Hindi,
Urdu and regional languages have suffered a serious setback.
American
linguist Noam Chomsky observed in his essay ' Politics of language,' that ' a
language may thrive in a healthy competitive linguistic milieu but when
languages are pitted against each other and discriminated against, a socially
powerful language swallows relatively less powerful tongues however structurally
strong they may be.'
This has
happened in the case of Hindi and Urdu. English has engulfed both. But if you
closely study the predicament of these two languages (Hindi and Urdu), there're
other politico-ethnic factors as well that have nothing to do with the
linguistic nuances and intricacies.
Hindu India
dovetailed Urdu with the Muslims. Just because of Urdu's Rasmul-Khat (script),
which is Nastaliq and based on Arabo-Persian script, Urdu became a language of
the Muslims. This is an extremely flawed notion.
It's a
matter of pity that both the structurally identical languages have been pitted
against each other just because of their different scripts. While Hindi follows
Devnagari script, Urdu follows Nastaliq. It doesn't mean that Urdu should be
written in Devnagari to bridge this gap. That will be tantamount to blasphemy.
Both the tongues must follow their respective scripts but as Mr Prakhar pointed
out, how many people are acquainted with the Urdu script? I'm afraid, even many
Muslims don't know how to read and write Urdu. Almost the same dismal fate has
befallen Hindi. People cannot write Hindi either.
The country
has become the proverbial Biblical Tower of Babel (Bruegel). A plethora of
languages, but none spoken clearly and correctly. Mistakes are galore in all
tongues. Urdu's ' Paivast' has become ' Paibast', 'Jahannam ' is written
and enunciated as 'Jahannum', 'Alfaaz' has become 'alfaazon' ('Alfaaz'
is the plural of 'Lafz'). We say 'Jazbaaton' instead of just 'Jazbaat.'
Even Urdu teachers write 'Pashopesh' (dilemma) in lieu of 'Pasopesh'
or 'Peshopas.' It came from Persian in which 'Pas' (‘back’, e.g, Pasmanzar/background)
and 'Pesh' (ahead/forth: Peshgi Raqam; Peshqadmi) are combined together
to make: 'Pas-o-Pesh' or 'Peshopas' (rare but correct just like Raat-Din/Din-Raat).
So, 'Pashopesh' is completely incorrect. But who cares? In northern
India, the Hindi word 'Kripaya' becomes 'Kripya' !
Command OF
English/language becomes Command OVER...., People are 'expired' here instead of
passing away/on! An object or thing is expired, not humans!
Unless we
care for our languages and take pains and efforts to write and speak them
correctly, all languages will lose their significance erelong.
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/tower-babel-bruegel-urdu-hindi/d/129316
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