MOHAMMAD YACOOB, EX-CHAIRMAN, CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE INDIAN MUSLIMS IN US & CANADA, 4380 N. ELSTON Ave, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60641, USA
The activities of the people living in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India, known as the Hindi belt, are assuming new dimensions which involve disturbing the fabric of democracy, secularism, and the unique culture of Muslims living in India.
One of the activities of the Hindi-belt people is the treatment the Urdu language is receiving at their hand. Urdu and Hindi are similar languages. They complement each other. Yet, injustice to Urdu is being done at all levels. In many states it has been declared as the second language, but it has become difficult to implement and teach Urdu because of the arrogant attitude of the Hindi-speaking people.
The Government of India has adopted a three- language formula. Children are required to study three languages in schools. Urdu is at a disadvantage when this formula is applied because it has been coupled with other languages. Urdu-speaking students are forced to take Hindi, English and Sanskrit or any of the other local languages. In various states, the State Govt. declares that the Urdu-speaking students have an opportunity to learn Urdu; in schools classes are offered, but there are no Urdu teachers. They have not been hired because more emphasis has been placed on Hindi and Sanskrit languages. In many instances it has been discovered that the pressure brought about by the Hindi-speaking people was the contributing factor in not hiring Urdu teachers.
Golden Age of Moghuls: Urdu is one the most popular languages of India. It is being extensively used in the Bombay film industry. Urdu poetry & ghazals are very popular. Besides, Urdu dialogues are also very popular. It is a matter of great concern for Urdu lovers that the ghazals and the dialogues in the films have been branded as Hindi. Here also the Hindi-speaking people have displayed their arrogant attitude. A microscopic look at the films and movies produced in Bombay and an analysis of the dialogues and ghazals in each of these movies will produce voluminous and factual data in Favour of Urdu.
In the movie “Mughal-e-Azam”, four writers were used by K. Asif to write the dialogues to correctly depict the golden age of the Mughal era. The dialogues were written in plain Urdu, plain Hindi, sanskritized Hindi and Farsized Urdu, where as Wajahat Mirza in “Love and God”, Rajendra Singh Bedi in “Abhiman”, Nasir Hussain in “Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai” and Rafi Ajmeri in “Anokhi Ada” made the characters speak plain Urdu dialogues. Yet other writers, like Dr. Balkrishan in “Anjam”, Anay Shukla in “Jeeva”, Madan Joshi in “Ek Chador Mailee Se”, and Khader Khan in “Choron Ki Baraat” and other films, used Hindi and Urdu dialogues to bring out the personalities of each and every character in these films.
TV Hindi: It is interesting to note that whenever these writers had to put words in the mouths of political leaders to deliver speeches, these writers always used the Indian TV-style Hindi which is understood only by less than 5% of the Indian population. In early 80’s significant number of movies produced had dialogues which started with TV style Hindi, depending upon the theme and the story and after 15 or 20 minutes into the movie the characters would be delivering dialogues in Hindi and Urdu.
Every year several movies are released in which the characters end up in courts, to prove their innocence. The outburst in the court room by the hero or heroine, the emotional pleas by the relatives of the heroes or the heroines, and the legal language, including the legal terms, used by the lawyers and the judges is always more than 90% in the Urdu. Such movies include “Paying Guest” of the 1950’s, “:Aag Hi Aag” of 1980’s and “Phool and Angarey” of 1991. Also Urdu proverb, idioms and quotations, along with songs, ghazals and geets in the films and the movies amount to more than 50%.
When it comes to moral lectures, religious themes and/or praying to Bhagwan or Allah, however, these writers use Hindi dialogues for Hindu characters and Urdu dialogues for Muslim characters. In hundreds of movies it has been noted that the Hindu characters would utter the words “Rubb” and/or “Khuda” to describe God.
Film Board : In a nutshell, the similarity of the Urdu. and Hindi languages has enriched the culture and language situation in India. The writers use these languages to provide the best possible combination in the movies to the Indian audience throughout the world. To say that these films and movies are “Hindi” movies is disinformation. They are “Hindi-Urdu’ movies.
The lovers of Urdu will have to educate the decent people in India and throughout the world about the contributions made by Urdu and expose the unindian attitude of the irrational people who are suppressing the growth of Urdu. To educate these people the Urdu lovers must:
Provide detailed information to the elite and influential people in India about the contributions that are being made continuously by Urdu, and help make an informed decision in restoring the status of Urdu. And make demands that the Government of India issue directives to the Indian Censor Board in Bombay to issue certification saying that these are “Hindi- Urdu” films and movies.
