This language was born here

November 9, the poet Iqbal’s birthday, is celebrated as Urdu Day. But it finds me glum. I see little reason to rejoice. Especially when...

November 9, the poet Iqbal’s birthday, is celebrated as Urdu Day. But it finds me glum. I see little reason to rejoice. Especially when I see Urdu papers crying hoarse over RSS chief K. Sudarshan’s recent diatribes against Urdu. At his Dussehra rally, Sudarshan, called Urdu a “language of Partition”. While the national media ignored this crassly communal comment, the Urdu press went ballistic. Hate Urdu, like hate Muslims, forms Hindutva’s staple diet. Without them, the parivar’s menu would look boringly bland. When the likes of Sudarshan repeats a lie ad nauseam, the less-informed start believing it.

When the Muslim League aggressively advocated the Pakistan cause in the late 1940s, Urdu became its biggest victim. After Partition, Pakistan declared Urdu its national language, fuelling the fanatics’ animosity against the language here. But just because Pakistan, a product of the diabolic two-nation theory, adopted Urdu as its state language, doesn’t make it an alien in its own home. A quintessentially Indian language, Urdu symbolises India’s famed Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb (composite culture). From Amir Khusrau in medieval times to revered Raghupati Sahai Firaq Gorakhpuri, in our age, poets have enriched Urdu’s vocabulary.

The hate Urdu brigade would do well to re-read the history of India’s struggle for Independence. When they do so, they will stumble upon Maulvi Mohammed Baqar, an Urdu journalist in Delhi, who became the first martyr of Indian journalism during India’s first War of Independence (1857). Any number of Urdu journalists and writers, including Maulana Azad, Maulana Hasrat Mohani and the Ali Brothers served prison terms, fought censorship and endured assaults for opposing the British Raj.

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Remember too that Urdu gave our freedom movement its most inspiring slogan: Inquilab Zindabad. When Ashfaqullah Khan and Ramprasad Bismil were taken to the gallows, the latter laughed off the Raj’s repression: “Sarfroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hai/Dekhna hai zor kitna baazoo-e-qatil mein hai (we long to offer our heads/Let’s see how mighty the killer’s hands are).

When it comes to celebrating India, Urdu is second to none. Pakistan may have hijacked Iqbal from us, but the poet’s tribute to India, Sare jahan se achcha, is part of our psyche. Admittedly, Urdu’s world is shrinking. It’s slowly becoming a language of the Muslim. But non-Muslims have equally been its valiant soldiers. Take Premchand, Krishen Chander, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Pandit Ratan Nath Sarshaar, Daya Shankar Naseem, Brij Narayan Chakbast, Tilok Chand Mahroom and Firaq Gorakhpuri from Urdu, and it’s unrecognisable.

Today it is being punished for a crime it never committed.”They demanded Pakistan. Now they want justice for Urdu which divided India” is the favourite line of the hate mongers. Their bluff needs to be called. And until that happens I am keeping my celebrations for Urdu Day on hold.

Nizamuddin went to the US in December 2015 for a Master’s course in Computer Science, which he completed from Florida Institute of Technology in 2017. He completed his B.Tech in ECE from Jayaprakash Narayan College of Engineering, Mahbubnagar.

‘Complained of racial discrimination’: Family of Indian techie shot dead by police in US

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31-year-old Mohammed Nizamuddin was allegedly shot dead by police in Santa Clara, California on September 3. His family was informed 15 days later and are struggling to understand what happened. Nizamuddin had complained about racial discrimination and harassment before quitting his job. His father has requested assistance in bringing his son's body back home.

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