Notwithstanding the firm resolve of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath to wipe out Urdu there is no denying the fact that India had in the recent decades two non-Hindi knowing prime ministers.
While Urdu would come to the rescue of Manmohan Singh (2004-14), as he could not read and write Hindi, H.D. Deve Gowda (1996-97) would often take civil aviation and tourism minister in his cabinet, C.M. Ibrahim wherever he would go for any public gathering, especially in North India. The reason was simple – Ibrahim was also from Karnataka, where Muslims in general speak and understand Urdu though they know Kannada too. This is not the case in Tamil Nadu and Kerala where Muslims largely speak Tamil and Malayalam, respectively. As Gowda had hardly any knowledge of Hindi, Ibrahim would work as his translator – if the prime minister spoke in English or Kannada.
Besides, in the 1990s the country had two other Urdu-knowing prime ministers – P.V. Narasimha Rao and Inder Kumar Gujral. Rao spoke Persian and Arabic as well. Not only that, many leading lights of the freedom movement, including Shaheed Bhagat Singh, were well-versed in Urdu.
Irony with Urdu
The irony with Urdu is that it grew and expanded much faster in the 19th century, that is, at the height of the decline of the political power of Muslims. So, against the general perception, Urdu in this latest form, hardly got any governmental promotion during Muslim rule. The language evolved from Hindavi, spoken since the 13th century – first used by poet Amir Khusro. Hindavi got official recognition during the time of emperor Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb used to speak it too.
It was actually the British, who in 1837, made English and Urdu official languages replacing Persian.
So, if Singh, Rao and Gujral knew Urdu it was not because the language was thrust on them by Mughals or Delhi Sultanate. In some ways, the British East India Company was more responsible for its promotion.
It developed as a bridge language – a mixture of Hindi and Urdu is often addressed as – Hindustani. Thus, Singh would write his speeches in Urdu, but when spoken it was as good as Hindi.
The issue gradually acquired communal overtones as Muslims, in general, adopted Arabic-Persian script, while Hindus used Devanagari for the common Hindustani.
Interestingly, Urdu flourished in Delhi and its vicinity, Lucknow, Azimabad (Patna), Murshidabad, Dhaka and Kolkata as well as Bhopal and further South in Deccan Plateau. What is more interesting is the fact that the contribution of Lahore to this language was not as much as these other cities, though the great poet Mohammad Iqbal was from this part of the then undivided Punjab, where many non-Muslims were conversant with it.
Today it may sound somewhat unbelievable, nevertheless true, Murshidabad and Dhaka had contributed to the growth of Urdu – though the common masses, including Muslims would speak Bangla. As Kolkata was the national capital throughout the 19th century there was a sizable population who would speak and understand Urdu. That is why it is difficult to digest the fact that India’s first education minister and longest serving Congress president during the freedom struggle, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was a Bengali Muslim from his father’s side and his mother had Arab origin. He was equally fluent in Bangla and Urdu, not to speak of Arabic, Persian, English and Hindi. Since his family had lived at several places and he himself was born in Mecca (Makkah) – before finally settling in Kolkata – he acquired a sort of cosmopolitan identity.
Language movement
What is ironic is that it was in the erstwhile East Pakistan (earlier known as East Bengal) where the first Bangla language movement was launched just after partition. What is even more surprising is that the attempt to make Urdu the sole official language of Pakistan was first made by the country’s founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who, ironically, was not fluent in Urdu himself, as his mother tongue was Gujarati, and he struggled to read, write, and speak Urdu. Astonishingly, he used English as the language, in March 1948, to announce in Dhaka that only Urdu would be the official language of Pakistan. In his campaign for the creation of Pakistan he would use English to deliver speeches and communicate with common masses.
Also read: Why Does Wazir-e-Ala Adityanath Have a Grouse Against Urdu?
Another interesting fact is that when the Urdu-Bangla tussle erupted in 1952 in East Pakistan (then known as East Bengal), resulting in the death of many individuals, the prime minister of Pakistan was Khwaja Nazimuddin, who hailed from Dhaka. The chief minister of East Pakistan at the time was Nurul Amin (serving from 1948 to 1954), also a Bengali Muslim, who ironically opposed the Bangla language movement. Notably, Amin briefly served as the prime minister of Pakistan (from December 7 to 20, 1971) under General Yahya Khan, coinciding with the fall of Dhaka.
There were several Bengali Muslims who in those heydays also advocated the adoption of Arabic script for Bangla.
In undivided Bengal, while Urdu was gaining ascendancy under British rule, the Bangla language was undergoing a renaissance. The debate took on political overtones in East Bengal (later East Pakistan), although in the 1956 constitution of Pakistan, both Urdu and Bangla were finally granted official language status. However, just two years later, Pakistan President Iskander Mirza abrogated the constitution and declared martial law.
In India, the constituent assembly on September 14, 1949 adopted Hindi in Devanagari script as the official language of India.
Role of films
In the post-Independence decades, films played a significant role in the spread of Hindustani throughout the sub-continent and even beyond.
The influx of millions of Afghan refugees into Pakistan after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 familiarised them with Urdu, which was as good as understanding Hindi. Many Afghan students also came to study in India. Today a large chunk of Afghans can speak and understand Hindustani. This phenomenon spread to Central Asian Republics where many people like to watch Indian films and Pakistani dramas.
The Arabic-Persian script of Urdu helps them understand Hindustani.
In the 21st century, Indian Muslims may not be as passionately attached to Urdu as in the past yet the fact is that a sizeable section of Hindus, whose mother tongue is Hindi or any other regional language, are showing eagerness to learn it. Efforts are on at various levels to revive Urdu.
In such a situation it would be a daunting task for Adityanath to stamp out this language.
Soroor Ahmed is a Patna-based freelance journalist.
