Muslims and Urdu Language: From Crisis to Conspiracy
By
Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, New Age Islam
8 July 2023
Languages
have always been a medium of communication. Unlike other living things, humans
evolved a language to be able to communicate with each other. Each language
evolved over time and today there are plethora of languages spoken, written by
humans to express themselves. The basic utility of any language is to be able
to communicate with the fellow beings. This communication is the greatest
miracle of the humankind. Humans have invented the language and now with the
advent of computer language humans are successful to even develop the
Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is going to be the future of humanity as it
will dominate the mankind.
However,
the language can be a uniting factor as well as a divisive one. Every language
has its proponents as well as opponents as there is always a competition among
languages. If there are multiplicity of languages in a given country then the
divide and tussle among them becomes more prominent. India has its own share of
linguistic tussles. The communalism prevalent in India added more fuel to the
linguistic divide. After partition, Urdu was decried as a language of Muslims.
As
Pakistan, adopted Urdu as its official language and India embraced Hindi, the
division became sharper. It is a truth that in the bastions of Urdu where it
was born, nurtured, evolved and spread, Urdu has been uprooted. Earlier some
Urdu protagonists and scholars, who have economic ties with the language
declared that the language has backing of poets like Mirza Ghalib, Allama
Mohammad Iqbal and Faiz Ahmad Faiz, so it cannot be killed. But I think now
they may have changed their views.
Urdu
besides being a treasure trove of fiction, non fiction literature and poetry is
one of the important languages after Arabic and Persian in which the
contemporary Islamic literature has been produced. Most of the important poetry
collections, religious, and historical texts from both Arabic and Persona have
been translated into Urdu, enriching it immensely. One who is well versed in
Urdu can become an Islamic scholar as all the primary sources of Islam are
available in Urdu. Hence, many conspiracy theorists claim that Urdu is being
systematically discriminated and destroyed in India. There can be some truth in
it, but the fact remains that millions of funds are allocated for the
preservation and encouragement of Urdu by the government, although now the
funds are being curtailed.
The reasons
for this curtailment are described again in a communal colour decrying
discrimination against Muslims. However, the real causes are never deliberated.
How are the funds utilized? Who benefits from them? Why only few bodies are
allocated funds by the recognized government institutions? Why few government
appointed blue eyed persons are appointed to head these institutions working
for the cause of Urdu, but then ultimately they work for their own cause more
than for Urdu. If there is a threat to their position, they decry that Urdu
(read Islam) is under threat in India. It is such a sorry state of affairs.
A language
that cannot offer career prospects, economic stability is bound to suffer
immensely. Government certainly has a role in encouraging a certain language,
but when there are no takers for Urdu among students and people, Urdu will
continue to retrograde to the margins. Teachers are not able to instil love of
Urdu among children, even in schools where Urdu is taught as a mandatory
language. Once the mandatory obligation is over, students leave Urdu. Only the
madrasas serve Urdu holistically. Urdu is taught at college and university
level with the career prospects of students confined to teaching, research,
journalism and for most of them it leads to economic instability and bleak
future.
However,
the vested interests whose economic interests are associated with Urdu time and
again describe Urdu as an identity of Muslims, forgetting the fact that few
million Muslims among one billion and more speak or write Urdu, but they are
adamant in rendering Urdu synonymous with Muslim identity.
If Urdu was
synonymous with identity then Muslims would be very cautious to safeguard and
protect it. But the reality is that Indian Muslims are quite callous towards
it. The callousness is quite well depicted by the fact that Muslims are not
able to sustain even a single Urdu newspaper or periodical. The Urdu
journalists are struggling to survive and no serious reader likes to form
opinions based on Urdu newspapers, that mostly constitute as Yellow journalism.
The
publications in Urdu have little circulation. Besides religious literature,
Urdu novels and poetry struggles to sell. The Urdu poets and writers mostly
gift away their books as presents and complimentary copies. It is quite a sad
state of affairs because there are no takers for Urdu.
Indian Muslims
who claim to be more than 200 million in number fail to even buy few hundred
copies of Urdu publications. Most of the independent Urdu publishers and
newspapers are closing down due to the lack of revenue. On this account there
is no smell of conspiracy but it depicts the lackadaisical approach of the
Indian Muslim community towards Urdu.
The
situation can be improved towards betterment, if Muslims are ready to remove
the label of Urdu being a Muslim language, because it is not. Language cannot
be religious, even Arabic cannot be tagged as an Muslim language, despite the
Quran being revealed in it. Also, Muslim identity in India is not confined to
Urdu only because only in Northern India, Urdu as a language is prevalent,
whereas Muslims are present all over India and speak variegated languages.
Further a
movement towards reading and writing Urdu needs to be inculcated among people
that will lead to continuity of Urdu. Local initiatives of providing jobs to
those well versed in Urdu need to be undertaken. Madrasas can play a vital role
in offering morning and evening classes of Urdu in their areas of influence. It
will certainly help in promotion of Urdu as well as interfaith dialogue. People
should also patronize the Urdu newspapers, journals and publication houses by
purchasing their titles.
If these
steps are not undertaken then the conspiracy theories will galore and vested
interests continue to hijack the cause of Urdu, while Urdu will get annihilated
with each passing day.
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M.H.A.
Sikander is Writer-Activist based in Srinagar, Kashmir.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/muslims-urdu-language-crisis-conspiracy/d/130161
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