(The language, which had contributed for our freedom struggle,
seems to be neglected and ignored at the hands of our countrymen seems to
alarming and raised doubts among the language lovers of the country.)
By Mehboob Hussain Aazad (Journalist & social Activist)
In a pluralistic society like India where
hundreds dialects are in existence and around two dozen fully developed
languages enjoy nation status, but it is grim tragedy that Urdu has been
constantly deprived of its rightful place among the other languages. It
occupies a prominent place drawing its strength from India’s secular and
democratic values and traditions. It has served the country, the land of its
birth, as a cradle of cultural diversity, especially poetry, Ghazal, is one of
the most popular literary genres of our society. Urdu literature particularly
the poetry is very rich in traditions of patriotic and nationalistic
sentiments, which took root and flourished along India’s struggle for freedom.
The latter half of the 19th century and 20th century,
Urdu played an important role in the nationalistic and patriotic activities in
the movement for freedom drawing masses from every lifestyle. The progressive
movements in Indian literature provided fillip to many modern ideas of
patriotism, freedom, equality and justice, which formed the very core of this
patriotic movement.
I have failed to understand despite all its
contribution, it has been deprived a national status. The grim scenario of the
future seems to be a disturbing factor. It seems that Urdu due to its
overwhelming identification with a particular community (I,e Muslims) have
indeed paved way in creating a narrow image vested interest with narrow
mindedness. The poem by Iqbal Ashar gives a faint picture of deprivation of the
language:
Urdu hai mere naam, main khusro ki saheli
Main Meer ki humraaz hun, Galib ki saheli
(My Name is urdu and I
am khusro’s riddle, I am Meer’ s confidante and Galib’s frien)
Kyun mujko banate ho ta’asub ka nishana,
Maine tu khabi khud ko muslama nahin mana
(Why have you made me
target of bigotry? I have never thought myself a Muslim)
Dehka tha khabhi maine bhi Khushiyon ka zamnana
Apne hi watan mein hun magar aaj akeli
(I too have seen an eara
of prosperity, but today I have become orphan in my country)
Contrary to the popular belief, the
situation of Muslim after 1857 was not so desperate. As we have already seen
above, since there was a certain patronage from the British Government for
their language and since language and employment were closely connected,
Muslims enjoyed considerably high status. The Muslims' situation, especially in
UP, was far much better than Hindus' were in term of the literacy rate,
education, and employment. Brass (1975:145, 147) notes that English literacy
especially among the male Muslims was consistently higher than among Hindus
throughout the period 1891 to 1931. Accordingly, their general educational
situation was also constantly far better than Hindus. Similarly, Malik (1988:
148) observes that already in 1871, in Awadh, Muslims, in proportionately
larger numbers than Hindus, were enrolled in English schools. In addition to
the teaching of English, in all government schools, an Urdu-Persian curriculum
rather than a Hindi-Sanskrit one was used (ibid.: 149). For government schools
in Awadh, the proportion of language students in 1891 was English - 2699, Urdu
-17009, Persian - 4924, Arabic -141, Hindi- 4834, Sanskrit- 123 (ibid.). Even
for the employment, according to 83 the Census of 1911 and 1921 in UP, Muslims
were either over represented or proportionately well represented in comparison
to the Hindus not only in government employment but also in every major
category of employment both in the modern urban sectors of the economy and in
the elite sectors of the traditional rural economy. In many key categories,
Muslims approached equality in numbers with and even surpassed the number of
Hindus (Brass, 1974: 151).
Disappointed with the British government
both internally and internationally, Muslims felt the need to come close to the
Hindus (ibid. 230). There was a suggestion that they should cooperate with
Hindus since a minority could not work out their regeneration separately
(ibid.). During this time prominent Muslim leaders like Abul Kalam Azad and
Muhammad Ali were born. They were the ones who set the foundation for the
coming Khilafat Movement. These two people in particular propagated the Pan
Islamic ideas through the Press.
Muhammad Ali started two presses, The Comrade
and Hamdard. The Comrade, which was originally published from Calcutta, was
English weekly. The Comrade was also full of sympathy towards the Turkey issue
like Al-Hilal (see The Comrade). Later he started an Urdu newspaper, Hamdard,
with a view to reaching a still wider public (Ikram, 1990: 156). In The
Comrade, of 2/12/1911, he wrote under the title 'Feeling in India': “Urdu and Bengali placards were seen all
over Calcutta for the last few days asking the Moslems to gather on the
Federation Halls ground at 2 p.m. on Saturday last to offer prayers to God for
the good of Sultan and it was given out in the Urdu Press that fund would be
collected for the Turks in the meeting. From 1 p.m., Moslems [wound] their way
to the Federation Hall ground [on] the Upper Circular Road in spite of a
persistent drizzle and threatening weather. Only a short appeal for funds to
succor the distressed Moslems in Tripoli was made and there were no other
speakers. Money was collected in a number of wooden chests placed all over the
ground and every Muslim present paid this quota (The Comrade, 2/12/1911).”
Thus, the rise of anti-British feeling
among Indians in general and the growth of Pan-Islamism among Mohamedans in
particular contributed to focus the attention of Indian press on Turkey
(Narain, Kirti, 1968: 242). These papers deepened the political consciousness
of the Muslims and imbued them with a nationalist spirit (Desai, 1976: 402).
From this time onwards, whereas communalism continued, to an important degree,
both Muslims and Hindus fought the government but as distinct communities, each
with its own organization and ideology. Nevertheless, the two groups, however
distinct, cooperated against their common foe. At the culmination of the
movement after th~ war, Muslims and Hindus fraternized, and rejoiced in their
cooperation and unity, to an unprecedented degree (Smith, 1979: 205). Thus,
Indian national movement during the following decade was consequently
formidable. It continued until the end of the noncooperation movement, which
was linked with the Khilafat movement (ibid.).
Sir Syed Khan was the first
defender of the Urdu language. This was because through the Urdu language the
Muslim elite in the nineteenth century preserved their privileged access to
government jobs (ibid.: 92). Thus, Urdu language became a key symbol of Muslim
identity only when it came under attack by Hindu revivalists, with the support
of the British government (ibid.). It could therefore be argued that Urdu
initially gained importance as an instrumental factor in securing the economic
interests and privileges of the Muslims. Secondly, for the Ulamas however, the
definition of the Muslim community had been primarily religious and legal. The
primary symbol of Muslim identity for the Ulamas was Islam itself. Urdu was
also included in the Ulamas definition of the Muslim community but only as a
secondary symbol, used defensively in conflict with Hindus (ibid. 90). Here the
use of Urdu was more or less restricted to the sphere of religion. We have served endless repetitions of
the same arguments and appeal to those who will speak today that they will
avoid issues, which have been already dealt with.
Thirdly, since language is generally
connected with daily life, Urdu was more easily connected with the masses as
compared to the other symbols. This emphasizes an attribute of symbols that
they would never survive unless they have wide or mass support. Finally, all
these things were possible because Urdu was less controversial in comparison to
other symbols.
Iqbal reasoned; There is no doubt that
unity of language is more durable for survival and permanence in this world
than unity of religion since the former does not change in a short time in
contrast to the latter. We see that a single people with one language in the
course of a thousand years changes its religion two or three times without its
nationality (which consists of unity of language) being destroyed. One may say
that the ties and the bonds that arise from the unity of language have more
influence than religious ties in most affairs of the world (Zakaria,
1993:84-5).
In a lecture by Iqbal on "The Muslim
Community he said: It is not the unity of language or country or the identity
of economic interest that constitutes the basic principles of one nationality.
It is because we all believe in a certain view of the Universe, and participate
in the same historical tradition that we are members of the society founded by
the Prophet of Islam (Vahid, 1964: 376-7) . In 1936, the Muslim league made an
announcement, which included its 'Policy and Programme', of which the
concluding part contained a 14-point Programme for the ensuing elections.
Listed at No. 11 was the aim to 'protect and promote Urdu language and script'
(Zaman, 1995: :xxix-xxx).
This demonstrates that the two-nation
theory was not free from ambiguities. While 'nation' here was considered to be
based on religion and not only religion but also other factors like languages,
customs, regions and so on it was not possible to establish a homogenous state.
As already indicated above, Indian Muslims were never homogeneous in the first
place. All that they had in common been religion. Even though the idea of two
nations representing the interests of Hindus and Muslims in India originated in
different circumstances beginning from the late 19th century, the leadership of
the Muslim community had diverse perceptions on how this could be realized.
Since language is an essential requirement in the development of a nation, it
was convenient and important for Muslim leaders to use Urdu language as
ideological weapon, a symbol of Muslim unity, because otherwise Muslims had no
common interest. Although there was no mention about the official status of
Urdu in speeches, there was clear evidence that Jinnah indirectly and carefully
indicated this issue.
From the thirteenth century until the end
of the eighteenth century, the language we now call Urdu mostly had words of
Hindi. Urdu was the ancestor of two languages: modern Urdu and Hindi (Tariq
Rahman, 2011, pg 1). Since spoken Urdu and Hindi are the same, and most of the
North Indian population is familiar with the spoken language, going to a
Mushaira—where poetry is spoken rather than presented in written form, for
which Urdu and Hindi use different scripts—has more to do with the love of
poetry, art and culture than any communal, i.e. religious, identity. Pondering
over the destiny of Urdu in independent India and the positive role of
Mushairas with the equal participation from all religions including Islam, Hinduism
and Sikhism, the picture does not seem to be grim. Urdu and its overwhelming
identification with a single religious community have indeed contributed in
creating a narrow image of sectarian interests. This seems to be melting in the
scenario of Mushairas as is observed by attending a couple of major Mushairas
in Delhi, meeting & listening to poets belonging to various religions &
nationalities as well as interviewing the audience. The role of the audience
was also significant. According to C. M. Naim, “Every master poet had his loyal
disciples (Sha’gird) and their numbers and names were matters of prestige.
These disciples attended Mushairas in the company of their masters and were
quick to rectify, verbally or otherwise, any loss of face.” (Poet audience
interaction, C.M. Naim).
Associations with Islam---The decline of Urdu and its association
with Muslims has many reasons. Scholar Syed Shahabuddin has written,
“Admittedly, religion and language are not two sides of the same coin, but
today it is a fact that 99 per cent of those who declare Urdu as their mother
tongue are Muslims, and the Muslim identity, at least in north India, has
become so intertwined with Urdu that it is impossible to separate them.” (Redefining
Urdu politics in India, pg 171) Many Urdu scholars propagated, until
recently, the popular belief that this language has Muslim ancestors. According
to S.R. Farooqui, during Emperor Akbar’s time, the term Urdu was used to mean
“royal city.” When Shahjahan built a new walled city in Delhi called
Shahjahanabad, an army market close to the red fort, which exists till today,
was also known as Urdu Bazaar. This also implies that Urdu was created in
military camps and had Muslim originators. This chronology negates the
assumption that Urdu’s origin had anything to do with Muslim armies and
military conquests. In the aftermath of 1857, as per the British divide and
rule policy, colonialists encouraged the use of Perso-Arabic and Devanagari
script via the printing press to cement the division of “Hindustani,” which
contained words of Urdu as well as Hindi, into the standardized Urdu and Hindi.
(Rana Safvi. My name is Urdu and I am not a Muslim, April 25, 2013).
Many Indian writers such as Iqbal
were swept away by the nationalist frenzy. Allama Iqbal was a pioneering poet
of Urdu and a fiery poet of patriotism. Iqbal was the founder of a new school
of Urdu poetry, which blossomed, in the first quarter of the 20th century.
Iqbal's poetry evolved from nationalism, and he remained a poet of patriotism until
the end, although, switching his loyalties to different levels from being a
zealous nationalist in early period of his career to pan-Islamism in later
years. Among the great Urdu poets who sung patriotic compositions, Allama Iqbal
holds an eminent position. However, his contribution to the stirring of
patriotic sentiments among participants in the Indian freedom struggle was
watered down due to his support for the idea of Pakistan and pan-Islamism in
later years. Few remember today the remarkable contribution of Iqbal to the
development of Urdu literature. The resounding strains of Iqbal's hymn to the
nation are in abundance like the well-known Tarana-i-Hindi (Song of India):
Hubbe watan, samaaye,
aankhon men noor hokar
Sar men khumaar
hokar, dil men suroor hokar.
(May love for the
nation pervade all, becoming light of the eyes,
Exhilarating the mind
and intoxicating the heart.)
Iqbal's patriotic fervor found
finest expression in his elegies on the deaths of national leaders. He wrote on
the death of Mahatma Gandhi. It is hard to imagine an Urdu poet writing with
such passion about a leader from different part of India today. However, the
liberation struggle had brought a burning sense of unity among Indians of those
times. Nationalism was only one theme of Iqbal's poetry. It equally drew
inspiration from human sensibilities, he worked for most of his life in India,
and he recalled his ancestral land with passionate pride. Iqbal's patriotic
fervor found finest expression in his elegies on the deaths of national leaders.
He wrote on the death of Mahatma Gandhi. It is hard to imagine an Urdu poet
writing with such passion about a leader from different part of India today.
However, the liberation struggle had brought a burning sense of unity among
Indians of those times. Nationalism was only one theme of Iqbal's poetry. It
equally drew inspiration from human sensibilities, he worked for most of his
life in India, and he recalled his ancestral land with passionate pride.
The beautiful and delightful
expression of human emotions and feelings particularly related to love and
various other aesthetic inclinations was considered real poetry in the early
period, which was presented with economy of words, felicity and subtlety of
expression. Sentiments and feelings of attachments were then highly localized.
This is the reason that the concepts of nation and nation-state were not
developed during this period in the truest sense of the word remarkable during
the 19th and 20th centuries. Regionalism and Tribal loyalties were considered
patriotism, it also included racial, and kinship allegiance. This situation
prevailed throughout the world more deeply in the Arab world. Thus we see deep
patriotic or loyalist sentiments in the very early epic poems of the Arabic
poetry, which were recited by warriors in the battlefield. The same trend is
noticed in the Persian poetry also where Iran and its beautiful nature is
presented and praised fabulously. Everything beautiful belonging to Iran
including its weather is mentioned and praised minutely. Similar sentiments
were reverberated in Urdu poetry also since its very beginning because the
early Urdu poets were masters of Persian language and literature as well.
However, if we have to find and see the real and first signs of patriotism in somewhat
modern sense, we have to look at the declining phases of the Mughal rule in
India. The British had gradually started to open up their ulterior designs and
Indian intellectuals had begun to realize that they would have to even
sacrifice their lives in order to reclaim their territorial and political
independence. In the Indian sub-continent the tradition of patriotism, which is
the subject of discussion in this paper originated when an aggressive nation
began its occupation of India. A peace-loving nation and its citizens were seen
protesting this aggression and illegitimate occupation. Nevertheless, this
hostile nation succeeded in their imperialistic designs all over India because
of their modern techniques of warfare and tyrannical aggression. When they
became successful in 1857 to bring Lucknow and Delhi under their control, the
Indians slipped into shock for a period. However, poetry took the lead to cure
the Indian community of this shock and began the fight against the aggressors
in an organized manner.
The imprints of patriotism, which
could be traced in ‘Shaher Ashoobs’, were of incipient nature and its more
pronounced expression could be seen in later poetry. However, it should be
conceded that Urdu poetry took a while to adopt patriotism in its pronounced
and complete form till the poetry of Allama Iqbal. Patriotic sentiments first
began to emerge in Urdu poetry and among Muslims because the Britishers
snatched power form Muslims and also targeted them to ensconce their hold.
In order to understand the
concept of patriotism in Urdu poetry we should refer here to the views of Abul
Kalam Azad, he says: "I am a Muslim
and I do for believe what my Sharia says. Koran says that as selection between
matter and forms is natural and the law preserves the real and actual matter,
likewise this law also works with regard to beliefs and actions. The ultimate
victory is of the action, which is based on truth and reality, and it deserves
to be preserved. Therefore, whenever there is fight between Justice and Injustice,
it is ultimately justice, which emerges victorious. Only beneficial things will
be preserved on earth and the harmful will be eliminated. For this reason the
Koran names the right as truth which is eternal and the evil and false are
temporary which are bound to be eliminated." (Azad, 1968 page no. 144,
145,)
This is the view of patriotism,
which ran in the veins of Urdu poetry, and Iqbal developed his patriotic and
nationalistic poetry around this concept. The Urdu poetry has been taken
granted to be exponent of love themes. This is true to some extent but it is
not entirely true. Urdu poetry has been sensitive to prevailing conditions in
every period. The realities of life and views related to it have always been
dealt with in Urdu poetry. Outwardly, Urdu poetry does not seem to deal much
about socio-political issues but t is not true. Urdu poetry has not only taken
up these issues and espoused them. But these issues have not been presented
distinctly. They have been treated in similes and symbols in every period, and
those who appreciate Urdu poetry well, have no problem in identifying those
issues covered in allusions. Let me quote some of these examples here:
Nazim-e-mulk so rahe
hain haey
(Oh! the rulers of
nation have gone to sleep)
Duniya ka nezam ho
chukka ab (Mushafi)
(Who will now govern
the world?)
DAR SE HUN SAYYAD KE
KHAMOSH MEIN RAHEN HAMSAFIR:
(I have been silent
fearing the hunter in company)
Kya qafas mein yaad
ham ko ab chaman aata nahin
(I no longer remember
the garden in the cage) (Jur'rat)
Tabl-e-I'lm bhi paas
hai apne na mulk-o-maal
(Neither the drum of
knowledge nor wealth and property is with me anymore)
Ham se khelaf ho ke
karega zamana kya
(What harm can world
inflict on me) (Aatish)
Dil mulk-e-Angrez
mein jeene se tang hai
(I am weary of living
under English rule)
Rahna badan mein rooh
ka qaid-e-firang hai (Nasikh)
(Living under The
English domination is like forceful imprisonment)
Bal-o-par bhi gaey
bahar ke saath
(The wings were also
blown away with spring)
Ab tawaq'o nahi rehaee
ki (Wazir)
(Now there is no hope
of freedom- (flying)
Bik gaey hain Aah to
ghairon ke hath
(Even Grieving has
been bought by strangers)
Bandah parwar ab
ghulam azad ho (Saba)
(O my lord! now this
slave is worthy of liberty)
Mar ke chuntegen
qafas se ud ke jaengen kahan
(Where will we fly to
being free after death?)
Qabil-e-parwaz ab
apne nahin sayyad par (Rind)
(Now our ability
(freedom) of flight will not be dependent on the hunter's will)
And this feeling of helplessness
was so stifling and people thought that there was no hope of this darkness
getting over. This feeling of resistance naturally led to the emergence of
patriotic feelings. Urdu poetry became the medium to vent this feeling:
Hawa-e-dahr gar
insaaf par aee to sun lena
(Take note, if the wind
of time is conducive to justice)
Gul-o-bulbul chaman
mein hongen bahar baghban hoga (Aatish)
(The flower and
nightingale will be in garden, guarded by the watchman outside)
Gar jang se gurez
kare koi badshah
(If a king avoids
war)
Taj-e-kharoos khub hai
uski kulah (Nasekh)
(Then a Cock's crown
will suit as his cap)
Jo a'du-e-bagh ho
barbad ho
(Whosoever is enemy
of garden should be destroyed)
Koi ho gulchin ho ya
sayyad ho (Saba)
(Be in favour of
garden whether as flower-pluckier or hunter or whatever)
Hasool kuch nahi
bulbul dehai dene se
(There is no use
sympathizing with the Nightingale)
Sunega baghlon ko gul
chin na baghban faryad (Rind)
(Neither the
flower-pluckier nor the gardeners lend ear to the grief of bystanders)
Iqbal was writing poetry with a
high ideal. He had a deep understanding of world politics and was well
acquainted with the philosophies of all religions. He had penetrative knowledge
of the English imperialism as well. He had good appreciation of the past, was
striving to make the present action-oriented and was laying down grounds for a
bright future. Iqbal wrote poems like 'Himalaya' to awaken his compatriots to
the fact that their past was so bright and tried to instigate their patriotic
tendencies. He always tried to free the Indian masses form their sense of
inferiority. The kind of patriotism Iqbal tried to awaken was so successful
that it turned the Independence movement into Jihad for Indian Muslims and they
joined the freedom struggle in hoards. Iqbal's poetry proved very crucial for
the international integration of Muslims and Hindu-Muslim unity in India. When
Iqbal emerged on the horizon of Urdu poetry, the literary atmosphere was quite
bright. Literary luminaries like Hali, Shibli and Nazir Ahmad were alive but
Iqbal fascinated people with his individualistic style. The type of patriotism,
which Iqbal promoted in light of the teachings of Koran led to confidence
building among Muslims and this notion was strengthened that Islam does not
create any hindrance in the way of unity among different communities. In fact,
the knowledge of Koran provides strength to humanism and faith. It was Iqbal
who called the English and their imperialism a deadly poison and said:
Na samjho ge to mit
jaoge aey Hindustan walo
(O! Indians awaken!
Or you will perish)
Tumahri dastan tak
bhi na hogi dastano mein
(And there will no
account of yours left in history)
We have served endless repetitions of the same arguments and
appeal to those who will speak today that they will avoid issues, which have
been already dealt with. We visualize a day when it will be possible for the
creation of Linguistic integration in upholding the integrity and sovereignty
of the country, which the States remained as separate entities for long. There
was wisdom in the proposal these Linguistic issues could combine for certain
purposes like international trade, currency and defense. I will not rule out
the possibility of such a combination in the near future, in the next decade,
if we are to develop our Constitution on proper lines. One more point, we have been talking too much
of a secular State. What is meant by a secular State? I understand that a
secular State may not allow religion to play a very important part to the
exclusion of other activities of the State. However, we must make it clear that
the ancient traditions and culture of this country will be fully protected and
developed by the Constitution and through the Constitution.
What are to be our ideals? We have
stated some of our ideals here in the Fundamental Rights chapter as well as in
the directives. But is it not necessary that we should make it perfectly clear
in one of these directives that it is the duty of the State to establish
village panchayats in every village or for every group of villages in order to
help our villagers to gain training in self-government and also to attain village autonomy in social, economic and
political matters, so that they will become the foundation stone for the top
structure of our Constitution?
Now after 66 years of freedom we
still divided ourselves among language, community creed sects etc, and the time
has come to unitedly to think over the magnitude of loss in dividing ourselves
on communal heartedness instead of fighting over petty issues. Let the nation
realize the twin sisters cannot be separated and sacrificed at the altar of
democracy. Let Us work together in building a Great Nation. Why deprive a
language which has the right to survive?
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