Teaching of Urdu language in France

This article describes how Urdu became a language of schooling and, to a lesser extent, vocational training during British rule in India. The areas focused upon are the present-day Uttar Pradesh and the Punjab. The teaching of Urdu as well as Hindi facilitated the mobilization of the antagonistic Muslim and Hindu communal identities which led eventually to the partition of India. One part of education was the creation of pedagogical literature in Urdu which attempted to supplant the existing textual material which came to be regarded as decadent, erotic or frivolous. The new reformist canonical Urdu prose was reformist and its aim was to create a sober, puritanical, responsible and religious Muslim character imbued with Victorian values.

Pakistan Journal of History and Culture Vol. 32: No. 2: 2011: 1-40

This article describes how Urdu became a language of schooling and, to a lesser extent, vocational training during British rule in India. The areas focused upon are the present-day Uttar Pradesh and the Punjab. The teaching of Urdu as well as Hindi facilitated the mobilization of the antagonistic Muslim and Hindu communal identities which led eventually to the partition of India. One part of education was the creation of pedagogical literature in Urdu which attempted to supplant the existing textual material which came to be regarded as decadent, erotic or frivolous. The new reformist canonical Urdu prose was reformist and its aim was to create a sober, puritanical, responsible and religious Muslim character imbued with Victorian values.

Language in India, 2009

'Urdu' is a Turkish word, which means "foreign" or 'horde'. This just shows that the language represents in its origin an amalgamation of foreign with native elements (of South Asia). Urdu involves numerous elements of Arabic as well as Persian languages. It also derives some elements from Sanskrit. Urdu is not an old language. Urdu is born and brought up in a condition when multiculturalism was in great favour. As this language became a preferred language soon in the courts of rulers, it also became the preferred vehicle for culture.

Urdu Studies , 2020

Second issue of Urdu Studies, edited and published by Arshad Masood Hashmi for the Department of Urdu, Jai Prakash University, Chapra. This issue includes papers contributed by for Urdu Section: Prof. Satya Pal Anand, Former Professor of English, University of the District of Columbia, Washington DC Prof. Syed Hasan Abbas, Head, Department of Persian, BHU, Varanasi (Former Director, Raza Library, Rampur) Prof. Maula Bakhsh, Department of Urdu, AMU, Aligarh Dr. Sarwarul Hoda, Department of Urdu, JNU, New Delhi Dr. Laila Abdi Khojaste, Urdu Author & Lexicologist, Tehran, Iran Dr. Shazia Razzaq, Department. of Urdu, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore Dr. Shazia Omair, Department of Urdu, Delhi University, Delhi Saqib Faridi, Research Scholar, Department of Urdu, JNU for English Section: Prof. David Lelyveld, Professor of History (Retired), William Paterson University, New Jersey, the United States Prof. Marcia Hermansen, Director, Islamic World Studies; Professor, Theology Department, Loyola University, Chicago Prof. Najeeba Arif, Chairperson, Department of Urdu, International Islamic University, Islamabad Prof. Agnieszka Kuczkiewicz- Fras, Chair for East and South Asia, Institute of the Middle and Far East, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.

TRAGEDY OF URDU IN INDEPENDENT INDIA There can be no two opinions that Urdu born and brought up exclusively in India was willfully guillotined by the Congress rulers most of whom were motivated by the Hindu high Caste imagery. These leaders who came to rule India after Independence were committed to impose Sankritized Hindi as the national language and worked over time to cleanse India of Urdu. How deep entrenched was anti-Urdu vision can be known by the attitude of Lala Lajpat Rai who despite not well-conversant with the Hindi varnmala or alphabets was one of the most prominent votaries of the slogan, ''Hindi-Hindu-Hindusthan". In this context another important example was how Bombay films with mainly Urdu dialogues and songs were given censure board clearance as Hindi films only. The lobby inimical to Urdu even suggested change of script of Urdu to devnagri from Nastaʿlīq script. There were, of course, exceptions like MK Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru who resisted such attempts. Gandhi conscious of the inimical attitude of the Congress leaders towards Urdu gave it a new nomenclature; Hindustani. It was an attempt to further Indianize an already Indian language! With this objective he established Hindustani Academy at Allahabad (now Prayagraj) which still exists in a pathetic condition. Those who declare Urdu as anti-national language due to hatred for composite character of India, remain blind to the great role Urdu literature played in the glorious anti-colonial freedom struggle. After our defeat in 1857 more than 100 leading Urdu journalists, poets, authors and calligraphers were hanged in Delhi only. The National Archives of India has published the proscribed literature by the British rulers of different Indian languages. Lovers of Urdu should be proud of the fact that in the prose section Urdu literary pieces number 68, second to Hindi's 138. Likewise, in the poetry section 58 Urdu poems were banned, second to Hindi's 264. The slogan in Urdu, INQUILAB ZINDABAD was a rallying call for the Indian freedom fighters which was coined by Maulana Hasrat Mohani and popularized by Bhagat Singh and his comrades. [This piece was my intervention in a debate on DEMISE OF URDU on a web discussion forum, nrindians] PLEASE ALSO READ AN AMAZING PIECE BY JUSTICE MARKANDE KATJU ON THE FATE OF URDU IN INDIA: Urdu has been abused and neglected in independent India https://sabrangindia.in/breaking-barriers/lost-words

Being a modetn Indo Aryan languague, Urdu has deep roots in Indian culture. Apart from other Indian languages it has its own cultural identity, which may be rightly described as "Urdu Culture".

Urdu is one of the official languages of Pakistan and like many other languages it has incorporated elements from other languages of the world, ancient and modern alike. In Pakistan it thrives alongside English and the other regional languages. Historically, it is associated with Islam as many Persian and Arabic words are found in it and the Muslims of Pakistan and India have emotional attachment to this language although non-Muslims had immense contribution to its evolution and development. However, this religious association has different connotations according to the politics and the situation of Muslims in each country. In this regard, Urdu language has undergone a series of development during its evolution. The different constitutions of Pakistan addressed Urdu language issues from different perspectives. The purpose of this study is to elaborate and analyze Urdu language genealogical affiliation, history and evolutionary process especially after the emergence of Pakistan.

Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, 2019