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The Supreme Court has ruled that the prejudice against Urdu stems from a misconception that it was alien to India. Representational image: Wikimedia Commons

Urdu very much an Indian language, do not associate it with Muslims: SC

The judges said language is not religion and to consider Urdu as a language of Muslims was a 'pitiable digression' from reality and unity in diversity


Urdu is not alien to India and it is, like Marathi and Hindi, very much an Indo-Aryan language, the Supreme Court has said, advising a petitioner not to associate Urdu with Muslims.

The apex court made the observations after hearing a petition by Varshatai Sanjay Bagade, a former councillor of Patur in Akola district in Maharashtra.

Urdu is Indian

"The prejudice against Urdu stems from the misconception that Urdu is alien to India. This opinion, we are afraid, is incorrect as Urdu, like Marathi and Hindi, is an Indo-Aryan language,” Supreme Court judges Sudhanshu Dhulia and K Vinod Chandran ruled.

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“It is a language which was born in this land. Urdu developed and flourished in India due to the need for people belonging to different cultural milieus to exchange ideas and communicate amongst themselves. Over the centuries, it attained ever greater refinement and became the language of choice for many acclaimed poets," the bench said.

Urdu use challenged

Bagade had challenged the use of Urdu, along with Marathi, on the nameboard of the Patur municipal council. She had argued that the work of the Municipal Council can only be conducted in Marathi, and the use of Urdu is impermissible, even on the signboard.

But the judges underlined that language was not religion and to consider Urdu as a language of Muslims was a "pitiable digression" from reality and unity in diversity.

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"Language belongs to a community, to a region, to people; and not to a religion. Language is culture. Language is the yardstick to measure the civilisational march of a community and its people,” the judges said.

High praise for Urdu

“So is the case of Urdu, which is the finest specimen of ganga-jamuni tahzeeb or the Hindustani tahzeeb, which is the composite cultural ethos of the plains of northern and central India. But before language became a tool for learning, its earliest and primary purpose will always remain communication," the court said.

Urdu and Hindi

The court noted that the municipal council had retained Urdu on the nameboard because many local residents understood the language. The council only wanted to make an effective communication.

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The judges went on to say that the language used by the masses in India was replete with Urdu even if one was not aware of it.

"It would not be incorrect to say that one cannot have a day-to-day conversation in Hindi without using words of Urdu or words derived from Urdu,” said the judges.

British divide-and-rule

The court recalled that a fusion of Hindi and Urdu met a roadblock in the form of the puritans on both sides, and Hindi became more Sanskritised and Urdu more Persian.

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"A schism was exploited by the colonial powers in dividing the two languages on religion. Hindi was now understood to be the language of Hindus and Urdu of the Muslims, which is such a pitiable digression from reality, from unity in diversity, and the concept of universal brotherhood,” continued the judges.

‘Make friends with Urdu’

The bench said that language was a medium for exchange of ideas that brought people holding diverse views and beliefs closer, and it should not become a cause of their division.

"Our misconceptions, perhaps even our prejudices against a language, have to be courageously and truthfully tested against the reality, which is this great diversity of our nation. Our strength can never be our weakness. Let us make friends with Urdu and every language," said the judges.

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Earlier, the municipal council rejected Bagade’s petition and she got no relief in the Bombay High Court either. She then moved the Supreme Court.
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