Urdu finest specimen of Ganga-Jamuni tahzeeb, we must rejoice in our diversity: SC

Dismissing a plea challenging the use of Urdu in the signboard of a municipality in Maharashtra, a bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K Vinod Chandran on Tuesday also said "language is not religion".

New Delhi: Urdu is born in this land, the Supreme Court has said while describing it as the finest specimen of ‘Ganga Jamuni tahzeeb’ and stating that considering it a language of Muslims is a “pitiable digression” from reality and unity in diversity.

Dismissing a plea challenging the use of Urdu in the signboard of a municipality in Maharashtra, a bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K Vinod Chandran on Tuesday also said “language is not religion”.

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“Language is culture. Language is the yardstick to measure the civilisational march of a community and its people. So is the case of Urdu, which is the finest specimen of Ganga-Jamuni tahzeeb, or the Hindustani tahzeeb, which is the composite cultural ethos of the plains of northern and central India…We must respect and rejoice in our diversity, including our many languages,” the bench said.

The top court was hearing an appeal filed by Varshatai, a former councillor of Patur in Maharashtra’s Akola district, who challenged the use of Urdu, along with Marathi, on the name board of the municipal council.

According to her, the work of the municipal council can only be conducted in Marathi. The use of Urdu in any manner is impermissible even though it may just be a writing on the signboard of the council, she said in her plea.

The apex court court noted that the municipal council had retained Urdu on the name board because many local residents understood the language. “All the municipal council wanted to do was to make an effective communication,” it said.

“The prejudice against Urdu stems from the misconception that Urdu is alien to India. This opinion, we are afraid, is incorrect as Urdu, like Marathi and Hindi, is an Indo-Aryan language. It is a language which was born in this land,” the judges said.

Urdu developed and flourished in India due to the need for people belonging to different cultural milieus who wanted to exchange ideas and communicate amongst themselves, the court stated.

“Over the centuries, it attained ever greater refinement and became the language of choice for many acclaimed poets,” the bench said. The top court said the language used by the masses is replete with Urdu even if one is not aware of it.

“It would not be incorrect to say that one cannot have a day-to-day conversation in Hindi without using words of Urdu or words derived from Urdu. The word ‘Hindi’ itself comes from the Persian word ‘Hindavi’,” the bench said.

The court said the fusion of Hindi and Urdu met a roadblock in the form of the puritans on both sides and Hindi became more Sanskritised and Urdu more Persian.

“A schism exploited by the colonial powers in dividing the two languages on religion. Hindi was now understood to be the language of Hindus and Urdu of the Muslims, which is such a pitiable digression from reality; from unity in diversity; and the concept of universal brotherhood,” it said.

The court said a municipal council provides services to the local community and caters to their immediate day-to-day needs.

“If people or a group of people, residing within the area covered by the Municipal Council are familiar with Urdu, then there should not be any objection if Urdu is used in addition to the official language i.e. Marathi, at least on the signboard of the Municipal Council. Language is a medium for exchange of ideas that brings people holding diverse views and beliefs closer and it should not become a cause of their division,” the court said.

The apex court said our misconceptions and prejudices against a language have to be courageously and truthfully tested against the reality. “Our strength can never be our weakness. Let us make friends with Urdu and every language…,” it said.