ZAHID Ali Khan has a hard time believing the perpetrators behind the recent wave of terror in Mumbai had any link with Hyderabad Deccan, his hometown. Smartly attired in crisp, starched kurta pyjama and a waistcoat, the scent of attar - Oudh perhaps - wafting in as he entered the room, the veteran Indian journalist and editor of Hyderabad-based Urdu daily newspaper Siasat told this writer that from circumstantial evidence, it seemed the gunmen had no link whatsoever with the southern Indian metropolis renowned for its culture.

“When I heard about that, the tone in which the terrorist was explaining he is from the Deccan Mujahideen, the language he was using, the accent he was using is totally different from the way Hyderabadi people talk. I told my friends that this cannot be the plan of any Hyderabadi. I am not saying this because I am from Hyderabad, but ask anybody. They will say the people of Hyderabad are so noble they cannot do anything like this in any part of the world. Moreover, throughout my life I have not heard of any Deccan Mujahideen,” said Mr Khan.

He has been editor of Siasat since 1992, taking over from his late father Abid Ali Khan, who co-founded the newspaper in 1949. He claims his journal was the first Urdu daily in the world to come out as an e-paper. With a daily circulation of about 6,000 copies, apart from Andhra Pradesh, it is also distributed in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. Copies are also sent to the US, Australia, and the Middle East.

Mr Khan was asked to comment on what appeared to be the rabidly anti-Pakistan stance sections of the Indian media take every time events such as the Mumbai carnage transpire.

“It has become a habit of both the countries. You blame RAW, we blame ISI. We should come to a point and see what is correct in the news. But it is always there. Whatever happens, it is always connected to Visitors' Log

Pakistan. It is most unfortunate. I blame both the countries for this. World politics ... they do not want India and Pakistan to have good relations. Being neighbours, we should have very good relations.”

As for the state of Urdu media in India, Zahid Ali Khan said that in fact, Indian channels were actually promoting Urdu, though a sort of chasm existed between the Urdu-language newspapers of North India and South India.

“The channels are very good. I believe whatever Hindi channels are running, especially the government-run Hindi channels, they use pure Hindi language. But the privately run channels, well, they're supposed to be Hindi channels but if you listen to the language, then there is not much difference in the language between Hindi and Urdu. It is Hindustani. But Hindi papers use purely Hindi language.

“In Urdu, in the southern region, especially Hyderabad, we still use many words from Arabic and Persian, which is not so in the Urdu used in the northern states (of India). In the Urdu of northern states they mix up Hindi words and use the Urdu script. In the southern areas, the language is Urdu and the script is Urdu.

“At times people cannot understand northern Indian Urdu used by the newspapers. For instance, for chief minister they'll write mukhiya mantri in Urdu. For the prime minister they'll write pradhan mantri. For the president, they'll write rashtrapati, but we write sadr-i-jamhooria. These are the differences in the language. The sweetness of a language should be that it is easy for the readers to understand. The northern people mix Urdu with Hindi and in the south they still use easier to understand Urdu.”

As for efforts to write Urdu in the Roman script, an idea that has been floated on both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border, Zahid Ali Khan was firmly against it, saying it would dilute the identity of the language.

“I don't believe in romanizing the Urdu language. It will definitely be good for the younger generation, but we will lose all our literature. That is the danger. We cannot accept that the script should be changed. I was offered once by former (Indian) prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao to start an Urdu newspaper in the Devanagari script from Delhi. I told him that by doing that I would be going against the wishes of my father, who, throughout his life, fought for the Urdu script. So I could not do that, as his soul would not be in peace in jannah.”—QAM