Upto 1947 Urdu was the common language of all educated people, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, etc in large parts of India. In my own family upto my father everyone was highly proficient in Urdu. Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, told me he wrote all his speeches in Urdu.
However, the policy of our British rulers was divide and rule, and as part of that policy they propagated, through their local agents, like Bhartendu Harishchandra, the false notion that Hindi is the language of Hindus, while Urdu is the language of Muslims.
As a result, great injustice, and almost lingual genocide was done after 1947 to Urdu, a great language, of India, about which I have written in the articles below :
Injustice to Urdu in India: It is not a language of Muslims alone
Great injustice to Urdu in India
The Misrepresentation of Urdu: A Historical Perspective
A function on the death anniversary of the great Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib was held in Agra in 1969, which I attended.
In that function, the famous Urdu poet Sahir Ludhianvi recited these verses :
“Jin shehron mein goonji thi Ghalib ki nava barson
Un shehron men ab Urdu benaam-o-nishaan thehri
Azadi-e-kaamil ka ailaan hua jis din
Maa’toob zubaan thehri, ghaddar zubaan thehri
Jis ahad-e-siyasat ne yeh zinda zubaan kuchli
Us ahad-e-siyasat ko mehroomon ka gham kyun hai ?
Ghalib jise kehte hain Urdu hi ka shaayar tha
Urdu par sitam dhaa kar, Ghalib par karam kyun hai ? “
These verses depict in a nutshell the plight of Urdu in India after 1947. Many bigoted people even today despise Urdu as a language of foreign invaders and of Muslims alone, which is a totally fallacious notion
Great Injustice Done to Urdu in India
Despite all efforts of bigots, in my opinion Urdu will play a profound role in the coming challenging times in India, as explained in the article below :
The Role of Urdu in India’s Future
Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of Press Council of India.
