IN a recent order, Jammu & Kashmir administration removed Urdu as a mandatory language of competency in the recruitment of Naib Tehsildar posts in the Revenue Department. Earlier, the J&K government had removed the Urdu language requirement for recruitment of the posts of Patwaris, who are the primary authority in the maintenance of land records and documentation. The move has received widespread condemnation from society, academicians and others concerned. People are aghast over the move and the repercussions of the move are being discussed widely. Earlier, the status of Urdu language as administrative lingua franca was diluted, causing anguish and anxiety in people.
Languages take decades and centuries to secure a place of prominence among people and cultures, before they rise to the status of official languages, touching upon the emotions and intellect of people. Not only do the people share an emotional bond with Urdu language, but it has been the official language of the state for more than one and half a century. To demote a language of such long standing official demeanour with a single stroke of a pen without any consideration for the consequences of such a drastic move is an act of immaturity.
Urdu language served the purpose of indefatigable link and timeless anchor in strengthening the relationships of Kashmir with the immediate neighbours in general and India in particular. It served the irreplaceable role of a grand unifier, uniting the people from different climes and contexts in a unified ideological whole. The corpus of century old land and revenue records stands archived in Urdu language and to remove it as mandatory subject in a service like that of Patwari or NT is a gross miscalculation and misadventure. One is often left wondering as to what are the intentions beyond such moves, which not only betray the professional prerequisites and necessities and public sentiments, but fly in the face of logic and commonsense. In absence of personnel well trained and efficient in Urdu language, it will be difficult and in a sense impossible for the officials to interpret land and revenue records, which stand transcribed in a typical Persianate- Urdu jargon. This will not only negatively impact the efficiency of persons entrusted with responsibilities in the revenue department, but is sure to give birth to flaws and failings. In a scenario like this, efforts should have been made to foster and fasten our ties with Urdu language, quite contrary to what appears to be the administrative mandate.
Urdu is the language of culture, civilization and tradition. It is the repository of one of the world’s richest literary and academic traditions. It houses apical works of scholarship on Islam and other themes of diverse span. It has raised and garnered poets and writers like Ghalib, Daag, Iqbal, Patras, Yusufi and thousands others, whose wit and wisdom continues to illuminate and inspire people across geographical and linguistic divides. It has exerted magnetic influence on people across the globe by virtue of its uniqueness, rich literary tradition and a sonorous aesthetics particular to it.
Jashn E Rekhta, as is being celebrated these days and the global attendance to this event is a testimony to the versatile and captivating nature of Urdu language. In such a situation, where Urdu is captivating people globally and it is accelerating in its outreach, the government, authorities and administration shall invest all men and machinery in collaborating with this process of global import, instead of turning the face away from it and leaving it in a state of shambles.
Urdu doesn’t merely serve intellectual, administrative and international purposes, as outlined above, but is a grand unifier, a reference to which has already been made. A humongous industry like Bollywood moves on the levers of Urdu and all acts of movie making involve Urdu as an indispensable medium of communication. People from different parts of India are able to communicate with one another in Urdu easily – the ease and universality that is offered by no other language. The role of Urdu during India’s struggle for independence stands well documented and needless to say that it continues to serve an indefatigable and indispensable role in defining and maintaining the morphology of the country. When these languages are discouraged and sidetracked in exams like the ones mentioned above, the treatment not only looks step motherly, but pushes the language to peripheries, something which spills beyond the boundaries of state and country and claims to have global consequences, and bad ones.
Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer
PULL QUOTE: In absence of personnel well trained and efficient in Urdu language, it will be difficult and in a sense impossible for the officials to interpret land and revenue records, which stand transcribed in a typical Persianate- Urdu jargon. This will not only negatively impact the efficiency of persons entrusted with responsibilities in the revenue department, but is sure to give birth to flaws and failings
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
