Urdu:
The Beauty That Is Destined to Die
By Syed Osman Sher
Toronto, Canada
Urdu, nurtured and loved both
by Muslims and non-Muslims as the sweetest language
of the Subcontinent, besides its beauty in diction,
prose, and specially poetry, had a political role
to play in the struggle for Pakistan. Ironically,
the birth of the very country in whose creation
it had played a vital part, has become, ipso facto,
the cause of its imminent demise.
There is no denying the fact that before Partition,
Urdu was also adopted as their language, both
spoken and written, by a large number of non-Muslims
throughout India. Their contribution in its development
and imparting richness to this language cannot
be denied. In a way it was a joint effort which
had brought Urdu at its apex, as an epitome of
a literature of highest order. However during
the struggle for freedom, some communal Hindus
did not take to it kindly.
The Hindu Mahasabha Party, at its Ajmer session
in 1933, resolved: “Urdu is a foreign language
which is a living monument to our slavery. It
must be eradicated from the page of existence.
Urdu is the language of the Malechas (the impure,
i.e. the Muslims) which has done great harm to
our national ends by attaining popularity in India”
After the Provincial elections held in 1937, the
rule of Congress party was established in many
provinces. Their indifference to the development
of Urdu prompted Muhammad Ali Jinnah to protest
at the 1938 session of the All-India Muslim League
in the following words: “They (the Congress)
are pursuing a policy of making Hindi compulsory
language, which must necessarily, if not completely,
destroy — at any rate, virtually undermine
— the spread of the development of Urdu;
and what is worse still, is that with its Hindu
Sanskrit literature and philosophy and ideals
will and must necessarily be forced upon Muslim
children and students.”
The famous speech of Muhammad Ali Jinnah at the
1940 Session of All-India Muslim League, through
which he tried to project the Muslims of India
as a nation, separate from the Hindus, had to
take, amongst others, the crutches of this language.
He declared on March 22 that, “It is dream
that the Hindus and Muslims can ever evolve a
common nationality, and this misconception of
one Indian nation has gone far beyond the limits
and is the cause of most of your troubles, and
will lead India to destruction if we fail to revise
our notions in time. The Hindus and Muslims belong
to two different religious philosophies, social
customs, literatures.”
In 1947, the country was divided. India made Hindi
its national language. Urdu, which was then present
along with Hindi on every sign post at railway
stations, buildings, and streets, became a forgotten
language. It went as a legacy to Pakistan. In
Pakistan, half of the population had a Sanskritized
language. They loved their own language. It was
for the other half to embrace Urdu. But here too,
the majority of about 60 percent had its own mother
tongue which is being developed fast. There is
no reason for them to put on the shackles of a
language which belongs to none. In Pakistan, Urdu
is there only as long as it serves as a means
of communication among the peoples of the four
provinces. Soon, it will be overtaken by the other.
Then, Urdu will meet its final end.
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