Pakistan, Punjab, Sindh

The imperialism of Urdu

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Is There a Conflict Between Urdu And the Regional Languages in Pakistan?

by Khurram Ali Shafique

[Excerpt] .. Prof. Karrar Hussain is an outstanding intellectual and scholar. At eighty-plus the Professor continues to discourse on social, religious and other poignant issues.

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“After the fall of Delhi and Lucknow, Lahore became the center of literature and Hyderabad ( Deccan ) the center of science and other subjects. There was (official) patronage in Hyderabad but no such thing in Lahore .” And still the language and literature of Urdu flourished here.

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“And then came Independence. Now, we must keep in mind that all people love their own languages. So, when you raised the cry: ‘Urdu hai aur Pakistan hai / Yeh sharif admi ki pehchan hai.’ Naturally, this cry caused resentment among the people of these regions. And this we would call the imperialism of Urdu. This was a very wrong thing.”

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“Now Urdu here cannot be the same as it used to be in Delhi and Lucknow. It will be the Urdu of Pakistan. To insist upon the Urdu of Delhi and Lucknow , to insist upon the same usage, and upon the same life, and to insist that this is the mark of patriotism, is wrong. The conclusion I derive from this is: Urdu ko Urdu kay doston say bachao! (save Urdu from its friends) Urdu flourished when it was free from the politics.

Courtesy: http://therepublicofrumi.com/khurram/urdu.htm

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