Urdu movement

Urdu movement

The Urdu movement was a socio-political movement aimed at making Urdu the universal language and symbol of the cultural and political identity of the Muslim communities of India. The movement began with the fall of the Mughal Empire in the mid-19th century, fuelled by the Aligarh movement of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. It strongly influenced the All India Muslim League and the Pakistan movement. The debate over the status of Urdu for the Muslims of Pakistan would also give rise to the Bengali Language Movement in East Bengal in 1952.

History

Hindi-Urdu controversy

The Hindi-Urdu controversy arose in 1867 when the British government prepared to accept the demand of the Hindu communities of the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh) and Bihar to change the Perso-Arabic script of the official language to Devanagari and adopt Hindi as the second official language. Muslim politician Sir Syed Ahmed Khan became the most vocal opponent of this change.cite web
url=http://www.saag.org/papers7/paper675.html
title=Urdu Controversy - is dividing the nation further.
work=South Asia Analysis Group
author=R. Upadhyay
format=PHP
accessdate=2006-10-15
] He viewed Urdu as the "lingua franca" of Muslims. Having been developed by Muslim rulers of India, Urdu was used as a secondary language to Persian, the official language of the Mughal court. Since the decline of the Mughal dynasty, Sir Syed promoted the use of Urdu through his own writings. Under Sir Syed, the Scientific Society of Aligarh translated Western works only into Urdu. Sir Syed considered Urdu to be "a common legacy of Hindus and Muslims" [Muslim Politics and Leadership in the South Asian Sub-continent, Yusuf Abbasi, 1981, page 65-66] . The schools established by Sir Syed imparted education in the Urdu-medium. The demand for Hindi, led largely by Hindus was to Sir Syed an erosion of the centuries-old Muslim cultural domination of India.cite web
url=http://www.saag.org/papers12/paper1160.html
title=Indian Muslims - under siege?
work=South Asia Analysis Group
author=R. Upadhyay
format=PHP
accessdate=2006-10-19
] cite book
title=Struggle for Freedom
publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
pages=127
author=R. C. Majumdar
id=ASIN: B000HXEOUM
page=1967
year=1969
] Testifying before the British-appointed education commission, Sir Syed controversially exclaimed that "Urdu was the language of gentry and Hindi that of the vulgar."His remarks provoked a hostile response from Hindu leaders and advocates of Hindi, one of whom, Babu Harish Chandar, termed Urdu as "the language of dancing girls and prostitutes" [Muslim Politics and Leadership in the South Asian Sub-continent, Yusuf Abbasi, 1981, page 90] . The Hindus unified across the region to demand the recognition of Hindi. The success of the Hindi movement led Sir Syed to further advocate Urdu as the symbol of Muslim heritage and as the language of the Muslim intellectual and political class. His educational and political work grew increasingly centred around and exclusively for Muslim interests. He also sought to persuade the British to give it extensive official use and patronage.

Urdu in Muslim politics

Sir Syed's call for the adoption of Urdu as the language of Indian Muslims won extensive support from the Aligarh movement and Muslim religious activists of the Deobandi and Wahabbi schools. Muslim religious and political leaders Mohsin-ul-Mulk and Maulvi Abdul Haq developed organisations such as the Urdu Defence Association and the Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu, committed to the perpetuation of Urdu. Sir Syed's protege Shibli Nomani led efforts that resulted in the adoption of Urdu as the official language of the Hyderabad State and as the medium of instruction in the Osmania University. This political campaign was criticised for making the use of Urdu a political issue that served as a wedge between Muslims and Hindus, who saw Sir Syed's advocacy as an effort to re-establish Muslim hegemony.cite book
title=Muslim Politics and Leadership in the South Asian Sub-continent
publisher=Institute of Islamic History, Culture, and Civilization, Islamic University (Islamabad)
author=Yusuf Abbasi
page=90
year=1981
] To Muslims in northern and western India, Urdu became an integral part of political identity and communal separatism. The division over the use of Hindi or Urdu would further fuel communal conflict between Muslims and Hindus in India. The All India Muslim League and the Jamaat-e-Islami projected Urdu as essential for the political and cultural survival of Muslim society in India. Muslim politicians like Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Sir Muhammad Iqbal, Liaquat Ali Khan emphasised Urdu as the symbol of Muslim heritage and political identity. The political cause of Urdu became a core issue at the heart of the "Two-Nation Theory", which advocated that Muslims and Hindus were irreconcilably separate nations. Advocates of the Pakistan movement sought to make Urdu a key argument in drawing distinctions with India's Hindu-majority population. Muslim religious leaders such as Maulana Mohammad Ali, Maulana Shaukat Ali and Maulana Maududi emphasised the knowledge of Urdu as essential for ordinary and religious Muslims.

Urdu in India and Pakistan

Independent India adopted Urdu as one of its 23 official languages while Hindi enjoys the status of national language. It is also officially recognised by the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi. Urdu is widely used by Indian Muslims across the country and there are a large number of Urdu-medium schools, colleges and universities, including madrassahs, the Jamia Millia Islamia and the Aligarh Muslim University. Urdu is also a part of popular culture, media and publications. Numerous Urdu language films have been produced, which include "Umrao Jaan", "Shatranj Ke Khiladi" and "Pakeezah".

In Pakistan, Urdu and English were the only official languages of the state. However, this policy caused considerable political turmoil in East Bengal, which was home to a largely Bengali-speaking population. Jinnah, most West Pakistani politicians and even Bengali leaders such as Khawaja Nazimuddin emphasised that only Urdu would be recognised officially. This intensified the cultural and political gulf between West Pakistan and East Pakistan. The East Pakistan Awami Muslim League (the predecessor of the Awami League), established by A. K. Fazlul Huq, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1949 would lead the demand for the recognition of Bengali. Intensifying protests and strikes led by political groups, unions and students groups would lead to the imposition of martial law. The killing of protesting students by police in 1952 triggered a massive wave of protests in the province, which would come to be known as the Language Movement. Although politicians like Nazimuddin, Maulvi Abdul Haq, Nurul Amin and Golam Azam supported the cause of Urdu, a vast majority of Bengali Pakistanis saw the government policy as a symbol of racial discrimination. This wedge in Pakistani society would ultimately lead to the Bangladesh Liberation War and the establishment of Bangladesh in 1971.

ee also

References

External links

* [http://www.saag.org/papers7/paper611.html Aligarh movement]
* [http://www.saag.org/papers18/paper1737.html Turkic languages and lexical similarities OF Turkish and Urdu - An Etymological Approach]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Urdu poetry — (Urdu: اردو شاعری Urdu Shayari) is a rich tradition of poetry and has many different types and forms. Borrowing much from the Persian language, it is today an important part of Pakistani and North Indian culture. Like other languages, the history …   Wikipedia

  • Urdu literature — has a long and colorful history that is inextricably tied to the development of that very language, Urdu, in which it is written. While it tends to be heavily dominated by poetry, the range of expression achieved in the voluminous library of a… …   Wikipedia

  • URDU (LANGUE ET LITTÉRATURE) — L’urd est la langue de culture des musulmans de l’Inde depuis deux siècles et demi, et la langue nationale du Pakistan, où il est de plus en plus utilisé à tous les niveaux de l’administration et de l’éducation, en concurrence avec l’anglais,… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Movement for Restoration of Democracy — (MRD) (Urdu: اتحاد برائے بحالی جمہوریت ) formed in February 1981 was a multi party political alliance in Pakistan. MRD coalition comprisied of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), National Democratic Party, Tehrik e Istiqlal, Pakistan Muslim League,… …   Wikipedia

  • Urdu — Infobox Language name=ISOtranslit|Urdu|ur nativename= ur. Nastaliq|اُردو familycolor=Indo European pronunciation= [ˈʊrd̪uː] caption=Ordu in Persian Arabic script (Nasta liq style) states= Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, UK, USA,… …   Wikipedia

  • Urdu Defence Association — The Urdu Defence Association was an organisation developed by Mohsin ul Mulk for the advocacy of Urdu as the lingua franca of the Muslim community of India. The association is regarded as an off shoot of the Aligarh Movement …   Wikipedia

  • Movement for the Restoration of Democracy — The Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) (Urdu: اتحاد برائے بحالی جمہوریت) was a major alliance formed by Secular Socialist democratic political forces aiming to end the General Zia ul Haq s martial law and military dictatorship in the …   Wikipedia

  • Hindi-Urdu — हिन्दुस्तानी, ہندوستانی Hindustānī …   Wikipedia

  • Pakistan Movement — The Pakistan Movement or Tehrik e Pakistan (Urdu: تحریک پاکستان) refers to the historical movement to have AN independent Muslim state named Pakistan created from the separation of the north western region of the Indian subcontinent, partitioned… …   Wikipedia

  • Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu) word etymology — Hindustānī also known as Hindi Urdu, is a term used by linguists to describe several closely related idioms in the northern, central and northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. It encompasses two standardized registers in the form of the… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”