By Shujaat Bukhari

Dawn: The Friday Times: 20 Nov 2015

The future of a language depends on its speakers

After attending several events on Urdu in the last few weeks, I was intrigued by the question whether Urdu was indeed a victim of a conspiracy. If yes, then who hatched that conspiracy and why? The last person I heard expressing such concerns was Justice (retired) Bashir Ahmad Kirmani, one of the most enlightened scholars of contemporary Kashmir. Kirmani is present in almost every literally event held in the town. After the launch of a book by Dr Nazir Mushtaq, a medical practitioner and author, Kirmani spoke of a conspiracy against Urdu. Similar apprehensions dominated the discourse at an earlier event organized to felicitate Irtiza Karim, the director of India’s National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language.

A curious look at the issue fails to convince one that there was really a conspiracy against Urdu. Government neglect has played a role in shrinking the space for Urdu, and that too in Jammu and Kashmir where it happens to be the official language, but that is because of the tendency of the ruling elite to ruin everything related to the past, whether it is heritage or language. But while patronization by the government is important for any language, the people who should be protecting Urdu have also lost their zeal.

Threats to languages:

In today’s fast changing and competitive world, languages that have shaped the pristine glory of many civilizations and heritages are vulnerable. According to a survey by UNESCO, nearly 7,000 languages may disappear by the end of 21st century. The people who are supposed to be linked to those languages are fast distancing from them, adapting other languages “with more opportunities and bright careers”. People do speak languages that have better economic prospects.

“We found that at the global scale, a decline in the number of language speakers is strongly linked to economic growth — that is, declines are particularly occurring in economically developed regions,” says Tatsuya Amano, the lead author of a study at the University of Cambridge in England. And this threat is also looming large over South Asia. Although Urdu is not an endangered language, it is a fact that the number of its speakers is declining. It is no longer among the 20 most spoken languages.

Nearly 7,000 languages may disappear by the end of 21st century

Urdu in India and Pakistan:

The fact is that Urdu is fighting for survival both in India and Pakistan, although a majority of people in Pakistan speak, write and learn Urdu. But in the absence of economic dividends even in Pakistan, where it is a national language, the young generation is running away from it and adopting English. That is why Pakistani government is contemplating swapping it with English as an official language. However, there is resistance to that move from the Pakistani elite, who dominate the bureaucracy and policy making. The real challenge to the language today is that it does not offer too many economic benefits, and those who relish and cherish it as a language to soothe their spirits are not in large numbers.

In India too, where the language had been linked to Muslim identity, it does not have bright economic prospects. The number of people adopting it as a means to gain employment is dwindling.

The policymakers ignore Urdu for the reason that it does not offer much in terms of economic progress, and it does not augur well for the future of the language.

Successive governments in India have given enough funds for the promotion of the language. While the total grant for promotion of Urdu language given by PV Narsimha Rao’s government was just Rs 6 million, it saw a large increase during the NDA government led by AB Vajpayee. Under Murli Manohar Joshi as human resource development minister, the grant was increased to Rs 50 million. In 2012-13 it was Rs 400 million, and in the last budget it has been increased further (although grants for the promotion of all Indian languages has been clubbed together). While the number of Urdu medium schools has increased recently, and so has the financial support to them, the language is still facing challenges. The trend among Muslims of India to identify with both Urdu and Hindustani is fast increasing.

“The perception of Urdu as belonging to a larger community rather than just being identified with one particular religion is widespread and shared among Muslims and non-Muslims alike,” reveals a study ‘Whose Language is Urdu?’ conducted by Anvita Abbi, Imtiaz Hasnain and Ayesha Kidwai of the South Asia Institute, at the Department of Political Science at the University of Heidelberg. The trio conducted the study in Bihar, Lucknow, Mysore, Delhi and Shimla.

Urdu was a popular language in the united India, and even after partition, it was on the agenda of the Constituent Assembly as a contender for the official language. There was a tie between Hindi and Urdu, and Dr Rajendra Prashad favored of Hindi. Ironically Begum Aijaz Rasool and Moulana Hasrat Moohani, both voted against Urdu. Moohani also opposed Article 370 and it was Gopala Swamy Iyengar who defended it in response to his opposition.

Although Urdu is the second official language in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi states, challenges to its survival come from its original speakers, who feel that it is devoid of any benefit. A distinguished writer and poet Gopi Chand Narang may surely say that “Urdu is my identify,” but that does little to reassure the people of the viability of the language.

Jammu and Kashmir is perhaps the only place where it does not face a threat despite being an alien language. But at the official level, it is true the neglect is deep. English is the language of the court and communication, and the bureaucracy is hardly well versed in it. It is important that Kashmiris feel linked to the language, perhaps because a lot of literature on Islam is in Urdu. But the younger generation feels challenged by the subject of Urdu at the level of matriculation. Beyond that, it is limited to a select group. With the passage of time, the youth will turn to English for acquiring knowledge in religion, as has been seen elsewhere.

The point is that there seem to be fewer conspiracies against Urdu than we talk about. Adopting a language, promoting it and flourishing with it, is up to the people who want to identify with it.

The author is a veteran journalist from Srinagar and the editor-in-chief of

Rising Kashmir

Email: shujaat7867@gmail.com