IN DELHI’S Urdu Bazaar in 1980s, there were some 80 shops selling Urdu books. Now there are barely six and they too have to wait for a passionate customer looking for Urdu books, says a story by Srijana Siri, titled ‘Delhi’s Urdu Bazaar and the Decline of a Language’, published by The Indian Express in its April 2, 2024, issue.
Many reasons can be given for the decline of the language that was the medium of literary expression in India for all and sundry, from prince to pauper, just a couple of centuries ago. Bahadur Shah Zafar, the emperor of India, living in the Royal Fort — near the very same Urdu Bazaar — used to compose poetry in Urdu, as did hundreds of commoners and nobles in that city alone. But the sad fact is now Urdu is fighting a losing battle in India.
Among those fighting against the odds is Dr Ather Farouqui, general secretary of Delhi’s Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu Hind (ATUH). The Anjuman has been working since 1903, and its Urdu magazines and publications are considered among the authentic ones. But Farouqui’s job is becoming more difficult day by day. Aside from a host of problems, one issue is how to retain the ever-decreasing readership for Urdu books and magazines. The number of readers is dwindling and the attitude of the Indian government towards Urdu is, at best, indifferent, if not hostile.
Apparently, the Urdu academies established in Indian states receive funding from the government to promote Urdu and several Indian universities do have Urdu departments where Urdu is taught at the highest level, but since Urdu is generally not taught at the school or college level, the younger generations are not interested in Urdu. But Farouqui is determined and fighting it out.
Urdu Adab, a magazine that the ATUH began publishing in 1921 under the editorship of none other than Moulvi Abdul Haq, the colossus, set an example for Urdu research journals. Ever since Farouqui took over as secretary and editor in 2012, Urdu Adab often takes up burning questions and does not hesitate from criticising what it perceives to be detrimental to Urdu.
Theme of Urdu Adab’s latest issue, July 2023-March 2024, also available online at atuh.org, is Urdu imla, or Urdu orthography. The quest for standardised and unified orthographic rules to write Urdu is on since long and it only picked up pace with the publication of Rasheed Hasan Khan’s epoch-making book Urdu Imla in 1974. Ghalib and later on Debi Prahshad Sahar Badayuni discussed some aspects of Urdu orthography in the latter half of 19th century, but it was Ahsan Marehravi who deliberated some issues in Urdu orthography through his magazine Faseeh-ul-Mulk. In 1920s, Hashmi Fareedabadi and Abdus Sattar Siddiqi formulated some rules at the ATUH under the aegis of Abdul Haq, who was very keen to resolve the issue.
In Pakistan, Urdu Dictionary Board adopted some rules under Shanul Haq Haqqee’s guidance to compile Urdu’s most comprehensive Urdu-Urdu dictionary when he was heading the organisation. Ghulam Mustafa Khan and Farman Fatehpuri were the two stalwarts who took up the issue and tried to give some guiding principles. In India, Rasheed Hasan Khan’s book became the most referred guide on Urdu orthography, though many still don’t agree with some of Rasheed Sahib’s suggestions.
In fact it was the ATUH that took Urdu orthography seriously some 100 years ago and Urdu Adab’s latest issue, dubbed Imla Number, endeavours to capture the essence of the debate that has been raging for over a century. Farouqui’s editorial, crisp and candid as ever, sums up some issues and he, in his usual style, does not mince words to point out some lacunas that are hurting Urdu in India most and, as he puts it, one of the elements that are detrimental to Urdu in India today, is the induction of madressah students into Urdu departments of Indian universities. These students are admitted to BA classes and, albeit being quit well-versed with Urdu, Persian and Arabic, they have little or no study and understanding of literature. But almost all of them aspire to become a professor at a university, playing havoc with Urdu language, literature and their teaching, says Farouqui.
The latest issue also includes a list of some 300 words as sample standardised Urdu orthography. Though in Pakistan some may not agree with the way some words are spelt out in the sample, it is a commendable effort to address the issues in Urdu orthography. The recommendations of a seminar held at Islamabad’s National Language Promotion Department in 2022 have also been made a part of the issue, making it an open forum for all kinds of opinions and one feels that such all-embracing approach will help resolve issues of orthography that Urdu has been grappling with for over one-and-a-half century.
Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2024
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