A Sinister Attempt to Strip Urdu of Its Script

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 24 September 2024 The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) ‘s decision to provide question papers solely in English or Hindi has put students of Urdu medium schools in a difficult position. This decision impacts Urdu medium schools across India including Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) where students have traditionally been instructed in Urdu. Now, these students are being compelled to choose between English or Hindi while filling out their admission forms, which creates a challenge for those more proficient in Urdu. According to a report in The Telegraph, CBSE directed that question papers for classes 10 and 12 be printed only in English or Hindi, emphasizing that answer sheets written in any language other than these two, without the board’s explicit permission, would not be evaluated. CBSE further noted that students writing answers in a language not permitted by the board would have their results announced without any marks awarded for that subject. This places MANUU students in a precarious situation as many of them are not as comfortable with Hindi or English (courtesy, Muslim Mirror). This reminds me of Raghupati Sahay 'Firaq' Gorakhpuri's famous couplet, "Ye Saazish Hai Ahle-Siyasat Ki/ Rasm-Ul-Khat Mita Do, Mit Jayegi Zabaan Bhi" (This is a political conspiracy/ Remove the script, the language will itself be expunged). Why's Urdu script (based on Arabo-Persian script) an anathema to the current political dispensation? A fascinating language, along with its script, is being removed from the public and cultural landscape of the country. Urdu newspapers and publications are folding up. The script is now confined only to the older generation. Youngsters from the community cannot be blamed as knowing Urdu script doesn't get them jobs. And those, who still adhere to the script, are being forced to write in Devanagari and Roman scripts. This is not just unfair. This is criminal. I've an inkling that this government will soon officially ban the script of Urdu. Have you ever thought, why a great language like Turkish didn't produce exceptionally good literature after 1930? Turkish used to be written with the Arabic alphabet from about 900 to 1928. In order to increase literacy in the country and to modernize Turkey, the Latin alphabet was introduced and adopted after 1928. This killed the pristine and intrinsic beauty of Turkish. Since I'm more au fait with the Arabo-Persian script of Ottoman Turkish, I've witnessed the decline in the standards of written and spoken Turkish. The same, nay even worse, deplorable fate may befall Urdu if its script is done away with. Script is the kernel of a tongue. By dispensing with it, you undermine a language and soon it becomes a relic of the past. Really bad times to be in. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/sinister-strip-urdu-script/d/133270 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism