STATUS OF URDU AND EFFORTS AND STRATEGY FOR ITS INCLUSION IN THE MAINSTREAM OF INDIAN LIFE

Abstract

Urdu is the name derived from Turkish, but Urdu language is born and brought up in India in its market and military camps. This has developed from the amalgamation of Indian and foreign cultures, which were at its peak in the medieval India. This gradually rose to the official status during British rule and became language of common man during freedom struggle of the country. But, on political grounds the language which had brought independence had lost its position in Independent India and thus became homeless. This article speaks about the origin, development and adaptation of the language. The authors have discussed present condition of Urdu language and constitutional provisions for minority languages. This is followed by a discussion on efforts of various governmental, non-governmental agencies which are written based on the experience of the authors. The constitution of Gujral Committee and its report occupies an important stepping stone for the development of Urdu language in India. The recommendations are examined vis-à-vis, its implementation. Remarks and observations of highest level politicians are looked into this article. The article concludes with a remark that the future of Urdu does not lie only on the efforts of Government body, but it is the Urdu speaking community at large, which has to strive for the survival and sustenance of glory of the language and its literature.

Urdu – A Panoramic View

'Urdu' is a Turkish word which means "foreign" or 'horde'. This just shows that the language represents its origin being an amalgamation of foreigners with natives of South Asia. Urdu involves numerous elements of Arabic as well as Persian. It also derives some matters from Sanskrit language. Though not a very old language, Urdu is a language full of charm and elegance. Urdu is born and brought up in such a condition that when the multiculturalism was at peak. When it got a proper shape it came in a form of culture and this language was not bound with any particular area. It travelled to Dakan (South), Delhi, Lukhnow, Lahore etc. So that we cannot say that the language is from a particular place. The language is acceptable by all. It is observed in our neighbourhoods or society that everybody uses Urdu, but none of them speak it in its pure form, it is mixed with Hindi, English or any other local dialect. Due to the influence of these languages, the Urdu language although exists, looses its identity and occupies its inferior stage. Added to this the partition of the nation and adoption of Urdu as official language in the neighbouring country has given it an align status in the place where it is born and brought up.

Origin of Urdu:

Many Indians, have been misled to believe that Urdu is an alien language. It is believed that this language had helped in bringing partition of the nation. It can be mentioned that this language was developed on the Indian soil and acted as a catalyst during the freedom struggle. To further elaborate its origin, it can be mentioned that the foreign invaders who brought Islam to India were Turks. Turks never knew Urdu, simply because Urdu did not exist at that time. Language of the then rulers was Turkish, their successors - the Mughals after establishing their kingdom used Persian as the court language in India. It is only in Bombay films that emperor like Akbar and Shahjehan speak in Urdu, which is not the true picture. Further, Urdu was not the language of Muslim rulers, but grew on Indian soil as a language of the Bazaars and Chavanis (military garrison) of North India, out of the interaction between Persian and Khari Boli and therefore Hindi and Urdu are close kin.

There are five theories for origin of Urdu, which are discussed here.

1. According to Mahmood Shirani and T. G. Beli Urdu is born in Punjab. It is transferred to Delhi through Muslims in 1193 and the proof is that old Urdu and Punjabi are similar.

Janan Raham Farmao Nan, Ya Mujhe Bulaya Aao Nan

Ena Bhi Kya Tarsao Nan, Ya Mujhe Bulaya Aao Nan

Hai Dil Manne Ek Arzoo, Ek Roz Apane Rubaroo

Aye Janan Man Batlao Nan, Ya Mujhe Bulaya Aao Nan

2. According to Md. Hussain Azad the centre of Mughal dynasty was Agra, where the local language was Brijbhasha. Urdu is derived from this native language i.e. Brijbhasha.

3. In 'Lissani Jaiza-e-Hind' according Gerareson Urdu is taken from vernacular India i.e. Khadi boli, which is also the other name of Urdu (i.e. spoken in Uttar Pradesh).

4. According to Zole Black, to solve the problem of Urdu and Hindi investigations has to be done in Haryana.

5. According to Suniti Kumar Chatterji and Sayed Muhiudding Qadari, Urdu has not extracted from any of the above languages. Actually, the origin of Urdu commenced from the Muslim entry to Delhi i.e. 1193 from North India or Lahore to Allahabad.

Different Name of Urdu:

Urdu is the gift given by Mughal dynasty to the Indian sub-continent. In the opinion of some scholars, it became a give and take language during the reign of Babar. According to Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, it was spoken in Padshahi ministers and their market. Therefore, gradually it was accepted by elite and percolated down to the society. Since, the language did not develop at once or at a specific place, the naming of the language is also not found uniform. It has been called by various names in different periods, at different locations and used in different formats. Some of the popular names of this language are discussed below:

Urdu was popular as ‘Rekhta’. In 1169 Hijari (i.e. 1782 A.D.) Shah Hatim has given his Deewan Zada in which he has written about himself in Persian as

Dar Shair e Farsi Peeru saeb ast, O Dar Rekhata Wali Ra astarmi Darad

Amir Khusroo brought some changes in Rekhata, which was used in poetry. Gradually Rekhta became in common use of public. Rekhata was little different from the present Urdu, as it used some Punjabi words.

Sheikh Majid (912 Hijri i.e. 1506 A.D.) was the first person who called Urdu Dahalwi. Amir Khusroo has also used this word for Urdu and it is found that his writings are influenced by Persian.

Shah Meeranji Bijapuri has contributed a lot to the Urdu literature. He has named his language as Hindi.

Mulla Wajahi, in his book ‘SabRas’ has mentioned about the language used and called it as Zaban-e-Hindustani for Urdu.

The two Sons of Shah Meeranji - Shah Burhanuddin Janan and Ameeruddin Agha who belong to the Sufi family of Gujrati named Urdu as Gujrati or Gujari.

Kabir Das was a renowned Sufi. He has written many poems and couplet in the love and devotion of the almighty lord and named his language as Purabi Boli.

In Gujrat Urdu was popular as Gujrati. Similarly, in South or Dakan it was named as Dakani, which has remarkable amount of literature. The two states from South - Gulkhanda (Golconda) and Bijapur played a great role in promotion and development of Urdu language.

Present Scenario of Urdu Language:

The basic purpose of using a language is to facilitate communication between individuals. Urdu is also considered as a very beautiful and sweet medium of communication. But at present Urdu is gradually losing its grounds. According to the 1991 Census, states with highest percentage of Urdu speakers were: Bihar 9.91% Utter Pradesh 9.74%, Karnataka 9.54%, Andhra Pradesh 7.84%, Maharashtra 6.94% and Delhi 5.88%. One major tragedy with this language is that it lacks home. It is treated as a step child in India, may be because Pakistan has adopted it as its national language. It is for Indians to understand that Urdu belongs to neither a particular religion nor a political system.

According to the 1981 census, Urdu is sixth largest spoken language of India. It is believed by Urdu speakers that if no mistake is done in the data collection process of census of India, then Urdu would become second or third largest spoken language. Even in the presence of figures available, Gujral Committee has recommended that in the states where Urdu speaking population is large, Urdu may be used in constitutional Assemblies. It is implemented in Bihar, but Uttar Pradesh still doesn't allow taking oath in Urdu at state Assembly. In this scenario what can be spoken about the states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra etc.? In the schools run by the Central Government, it is observed that there are more than 500 vacancies of Urdu teachers which are never filled. The vacancies filled are sometimes from non-Urdu knowing teachers, which ultimately mar the progress of the language, school and Urdu society at large. The steps taken by the government for the progress of the language are worsen by its own employees. Based on the recommendation of Gujral Committee, Railway department printed time table in Urdu, but on political reasons the same was not distributed to public, thereby it was recorded that the public did not demand it. Hence, further printing and publication was stopped.

The All-India Radio stations have more than 70 vacancies of Urdu producers, which are not justified by filling the Urdu knowing personnel. The condition of Urdu in Television is still worse. Most of Regional and National Television stations telecast programmes in Regional or National languages, there by again ignoring Urdu language. The Urdu news was shown at 14.50, when the viewers were not available.

Archaeological survey of India and Department of Archaeology, Delhi has maximum documents in Urdu and Persian, but the officers maintaining these are unaware of Urdu or Persian. In few railway stations the boards are written in Urdu. However, these are not in a readable condition.

Education through Urdu medium schools is facing huge number of problems in South-India; however, this type of education has almost vanished from Northern India. The states like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Orissa etc. are providing education in Urdu Medium; where as the future of Urdu in other states is dismal. India, at independence had 50,000 Urdu Medium Primary Schools in Uttar Pradesh (United Province), but gradually the number decreased and now, it has only 300 schools. Gujral Committee has recommended that the localities having 10% of Urdu speaking population should have one Urdu Medium Primary Schools. For 10 such feeder Urdu Primary Schools, one High School should be started. However, this recommendation is not implemented in any state of India. It is observed that if the parents like to admit their children in Urdu Medium School the Head of the Institution counsel to admit their children in Regional Languages, citing reasons of job prospectus. The teachers appointed for teaching Urdu are forced to teach some other subjects, thereby having problem of Urdu language teachers. Large numbers of Urdu teachers’ vacancies are reserved for Scheduled Caste, who are generally not familiar with Urdu. Many states translate Text Books from Regional Language Books, which are not properly done. Gujral Committee recommended states to conduct survey of Urdu teacher requirement at various levels of Education. But, none of the states have carried out such surveys.

It is true that since independence the Government has shown a sense of apathy and worse towards Urdu. But, the proponents of Urdu focus almost exclusively on the injustices done to Urdu. The Urdu community failed to take advantage of factors that favoured Urdu.

In Urdu-speaking families, people who were generally devoted to Urdu and whose children were also interested in Urdu, had not taught their children to read and write it. Urdu for them was simply the language of the home. Rajph Russel met famous writer Ismat Chughtai and was surprised to know that her daughter did not know reading and writing of Urdu. Why this condition has aroused? On close observation of Anjuman Taraqi-e-Urdu-e-Hind (an institution established for development of Urdu Language), it is found that the institution is not doing any productive work except publication of a journal, which is only a judicious mixture of news reports regarding Urdu from different parts of the nation . The proposals of dictionary and glossary preparation have not taken a practical shape still.

To add to this pathetic condition, Ather Farooqui writes in an article in the Economic and Political Weekly, "At few places Urdu Medium Primary Schools are run by local bodies which have appointed teachers - most of the so-called Urdu teachers, generally do not even understand what is meant by Urdu Medium."

This is the condition of the Urdu language, which is borne and brought up in India. It was a language which was spoken almost in parts of the nation during 18^th and 19^th Century. It is the language which, has given India slogan's like "Inquilab Zindabad", couplets like

Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab Hamare Dil me hai

Dekhna hai zor kitna Bazoo-e-Qatil me hai

This language was of prime importance before independence, but alas the same status did not continue after the independence. Therefore, there is need to examine the status of this language and look into the process of inclusion of this language.

Inclusion Process of Urdu Language:

Urdu is one of the most popularly spoken languages, whether it is spoken in the name of Urdu or Hindi or any other dialect. It is liked, appreciated and spoken by all communities, but on political ground it is attached with Muslims, which is not proper. This is why there is a step motherly treatment with the language and its speakers, which has lead to backwardness of this language. The government and other institutions working in the field of promotion of Urdu language are putting efforts to remove the misconceptions regarding Urdu and include it into mainstream along with other languages.

The Government, Semi-Government, Public Enterprises and General Public are seriously and sincerely making efforts for inclusion of Urdu language, in present day competition oriented, information seeking, modern world. The efforts made are right from the school to the University level; from one to one correspondence to mass Media Broadcast; from literature to Electronic devices like computers. Few efforts of inclusion of Urdu are noted below,

v All India Radio, Darbhanga, broadcasts programmes in Urdu and many such Radio Stations are also broadcasting Urdu Programmes. These are targeted towards utilization of Urdu language and mainstreaming the community using it.

v In accordance with the recommendation of Sachhar Committee, the Maulana Azad National Urdu University is opening Industrial Training Institutes for Urdu Community.

v Governments like Andhra Pradesh are coming forward by proposing reservation for Muslims which largely and indirectly supports Urdu speaking population.

v The Andhra Pradesh government has equipped Urdu schools with modern gadgets like computer. They have also procured Urdu Computer Assisted Instructional Programmes for such schools. The authors have assisted in development of these programmes.

v The Andhra Pradesh government has increased amount of scholarship for Urdu Medium Schools’ students.

v The Uttar Pradesh government has taken up decision to appoint 60,000 teachers which is a step towards inclusion of the language in modern schooling. Government of Delhi has started similar steps. Bihar Government is also appointing Urdu teachers.

v Urdu is an official language of Jammu and Kashmir. The state government has decided that all Government, Semi-Government Departments, Public Places, roads, lanes and historical places should have Urdu names in additions to English.

v Many state like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi have made Urdu as their second official language. Few other states such as Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh etc. are demanding implementation of second language status of Urdu.

v Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has inaugurated the Urdu Doordarshan channel for promotion of Urdu language. This has resulted in telecast of Urdu news in three slots, which is also being transmitted in DD News. This has overcome the problem of telecast of news in the noon which is mentioned earlier.

v The government has announced new policy for DAVP. According to this all small and medium scale news papers will get grants for publication of Government programmes. This will mainly help Urdu newspapers who do not get private advertisement for running a newspaper.

v The Government of India is planning Primary and Secondary schools in the pattern of Navodaya and Kendriya Vidyalaya. Few states like Andhra Pradesh are also starting residential schools.

v Government officials in states like Uttar Pradesh have taken keen interest in learning Urdu. This group mainly consisted of non-Muslim, non-Urdu knowing community.

v Urdu has gained an important place in five popular languages of Europe. Moreover, this is second most popularly spoken language of Britain.

v Urdu is popularly accepted by the Television and Film making community, where actors playing different character consider it useful to learn Urdu. The singers master this language. Most of the songs in films and serials are purely written in Urdu.

v Urdu has gained popularity through its Ghazals and poetry, which is very well accepted by most of the people.

v One of the authors of this article take it pride of having been pioneer in preparation of radio lessons in Urdu medium for primary schools. He was also permitted by the Karnataka state to initiate teleconferencing in Urdu for the first time in India. The proposals for video lessons initiated under 'edusat' for schools also had provision of Urdu programmes. Such, efforts are required at the highest level for promotion of the language and medium.

v Recently an International Urdu Conference was held in Jedah on 3-4 June 2008, which has emphasized in opening of Urdu learning centres and schools in new Urdu colonies at different parts of the world.

v The Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad has taken initiative to start television broadcast of content based lessons for all of its distance mode programmes to cater to the needs of the distant learners.

The above efforts of the government and non-government agencies are ensured through the constitution of India, which provides various provisions for linguistic and religious minorities. These include the Cultural and Educational Rights, which are as under,

Articles 29 - 1 Language, Script and Cultural

- 2 Admission in public institution of irrespective of caste and creed.

Article 30 - Starting of own independent educational institutions

Article 350 - Provision of primary education in mother tongue

The above rights for linguistic minorities, in the case of Urdu speaking minorities indicate that the Urdu language can retain its script and culture, Urdu speaking minority can seek admission in any public institution, they can start their own educational institutions and also seek primary education in mother tongue. Hence, to look into need and prospectus of Urdu, a committee was constituted (1972), which is also known as Gujral Committee.

Some of the recommendations by Gujral Committee for promotion and inclusion of Urdu language in mainstream are as follows:

1. The Education department of the State Government, Union Territories and local Authorities should, in the light of Article 350-A of the Constitution, make necessary arrangements for teaching in Urdu at the primary stage for the benefit of those who claim it as their Mother Tongue. A Committee should be constituted to monitor the implementation of these constitutional provisions by concerned states with the Chief Ministers as Chairmen.

2. In substitution of 10:40 formula, the Committee accepts the recommendation of the Gujral Committee that;

a. Where in an area speakers of Urdu constitute 10% or more of the total population, one or more Urdu medium primary schools should be set up according to need. Efforts should be made to keep Urdu and non-Urdu medium students at the same school to avoid segregation;

b. In an area where Urdu speaking people constitute less than 10% of the total population, an Urdu teacher should be provided in such schools as are likely to get a minimum of 10 Urdu speaking students;

c. For immediate purposes, bilingual teacher may be appointed in schools mentioned in (b) above. The existing teacher in such schools may also be given incentives to learn Urdu additionally;

d. The facility of Balwadies and Anganwadies at the pre-primary level should be made available to Urdu speaking children to feed Urdu medium primary schools and improve their standard.

3. Secondary Education

i. It should be presumed that two third of the students leaving primary schools would be desirous of moving onto the next stage of education. Urdu medium sections should be provided in the existing secondary schools and Urdu knowing teachers should be appointed in anticipation of students offering Urdu as a medium. The emphasis should be on students studying through all media (including Urdu) in the same school;

ii. In case of higher secondary schools in cities having concentration of Urdu speakers, one Urdu medium higher secondary school should be opened for every group of 8 to 10 feeder primary schools. These schools should be provided Urdu knowing teachers, which should be appointed in anticipation of students offering Urdu as medium. The emphasis should be on students studying through different media (including Urdu) in the same school.

iii. The State Government should help in raising the standard of teaching in such Urdu medium higher secondary schools, which are run by linguistic minorities themselves;(4.197)

iv. The pre-conditions, if any, for permitting the setting up of Urdu medium higher secondary schools and sections privately should be relaxed in favours of the Urdu linguistic minority setting up such schools or sections, and the procedure so simplified that the required permission would be granted within two months of the date of application;(4.198)

v. The facility of Urdu medium secondary schools should, as proposed in the case of primary Education be provided wherever the Urdu speaking population of an area constitutes 10% of the population.

The above mentioned points discusses various recommendations of Gujral Committee. Following paragraphs examines important programmes and interventions taken by different states for promotion of Urdu.

Karnataka and Maharashtra are examples of better provisions of Urdu Medium schools at the elementary levels; they also offer opportunities to study in English stream concurrently. According to the 2001 census there are 6.5 million Muslims in Karnataka comprising 12% of the population and Muslim children aged 6-14 year were about 0.2 millions in 2004, comprising of all children in this age group. About 70% of Muslim children report Urdu as their mother tongue indicating that Urdu is an important medium of instruction schools of Karnataka. 77% of institutions that impart primary level education in a minority language are of Urdu medium. Interestingly greater proportions of girls are enrolled in Urdu-medium schools. In view of a large number of children with Urdu as their mother tongue Urdu should be taught, as an elective subject up till graduation.

For the progress of Urdu, the former Prime Minister Mr. Indar Kumar Gujral said, “If the Urdu Institutions and Academies are really interested in promotion of Urdu then they may take a decision that none of the Individual, whose mother tongue is Urdu be kept illiterate”.

The former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajapai says, “Hindi also gets benefit from promotion of Urdu and Hindi will become more meaningful”.

By having concerned over shrinking readership of Urdu, the Delhi Urdu Academy is exploring ways to popularise the language through distant education programme. The Academy functionaries held interaction with prominent educationists to seek their opinions on the benefits of the distant education Programme, which had helped to remove illiteracy in the country to a great extend. It has also introduced certificate and diploma courses. Various Urdu Coaching Centres have been set up in the National Capital, Delhi for propagation of the language. These are some of the steps taken to include or rather mainstream Urdu language, to give a right place where could be placed. If we all try, with full efforts and enthusiasm, do justice with the language then, not only that it can get its rightful place but, it will integrate the society at large. Thus, to include the sizable population speaking Urdu into mainstream, opportunity should be given to them understand the nation in their own language. Prosperity of the language do not mar the progress of the nation, whereas it enhances the rate of the growth of the India.

Here are few suggestions for improving the status of Urdu. The first step is to increase scope of the language in Teaching-Learning. One need not depend or wait for opening of Government-run Urdu Medium Schools only. Those who have a command of Urdu can start teaching it in their neighbourhood. For imparting Urdu language to the children, schools are not fully responsible. Parents themselves must take initiatives to teach their wards. It is the Urdu knowing community who has to take keen interest in development, sustenance and progress of the language.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. Mirza Khalil Ahmed Baig, “Urdu Zuban ki Tareekh”, Educational Book House, Aligarh, 2000.

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