‘Language brings people closer’: SC upholds Maharashtra signboard in Urdu

Describing Urdu as “the finest specimen of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb” in India, the Supreme Court has upheld the use of Urdu on the signboard of Patur Municipal Council building in Akola district of Maharashtra.

“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,” a Bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice K Vinod Chandran said on Tuesday, dismissing a petition filed by one Varshatai — a former member of the Municipal Council who had challenged a Bombay High Court’s verdict that had turned down her plea.

“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 Bench said, refusing to interfere with the Bombay High Court’s conclusion that the use of Urdu was not prohibited under the Maharashtra Local Authorities (Official Languages) Act, 2022.

“Urdu developed and flourished in India due to the need of people belonging to different cultural milieus who wanted to exchange ideas and communicate amongst themselves. Over the centuries, it attained… greater refinement and became the language of choice for many acclaimed poets,” it said.

Writing the verdict for the Bench, Justice Dhulia said “that a Municipal Council is there to provide services to the local community of the area and cater 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.”

The verdict comes at a time when there is vehement opposition in Tamil Nadu to alleged imposition of Hindi through the three-language formula under the National Education Policy.

“Urdu words have a heavy influence on court parlance, both in criminal and civil law. From adalat to halafnama to peshi, the influence of Urdu is writ large in the language of the Indian Courts. For that matter, even though the official language of the Supreme Court and the High Courts as per Article 348 of the Constitution is English, yet many Urdu words continue to be used in this Court till date. These include vakalatnama, dasti, etc,” Justice Dhulia said.

“Our misconceptions, perhaps even our prejudices against a language, have to be courageously and truthfully tested against the reality, which is this great diversity of our nation: our strength can never be our weakness. Let us make friends with Urdu and every language,” Justice Dhulia wrote.

Addressing the misconceptions over the issue, the Bench said, “Let our concepts be clear. Language is not religion. Language does not even represent religion. Language belongs to a community, to a region, to people; and not to a religion.

Tracing the evolution of Hindi and Urdu, the Bench said, “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.”

Noting that Urdu has been adopted by many states and union territories as the second official language, it said, “When we criticise Urdu, we are in a way also criticising Hindi, as, according to linguists and literary scholars, Urdu and Hindi are not two languages, but one language.”

The Bench said, “Language is culture. Language is the yardstick to measure the civilizational 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. But before language became a tool for learning, its earliest and primary purpose will always remain communication.”

“Even today, the language used by the common people of the country is replete with words of the Urdu language, 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’. This exchange of vocabulary flows both ways because Urdu also has many words borrowed from other Indian languages, including Sanskrit,” it said.

“We must respect and rejoice in our diversity, including our many languages. India has more than hundred major languages. Then there are other languages known as dialects or ‘mother tongues’ which also run into hundreds,” it said.

Citing the 2001 Census, the Bench sought to highlight that “India had a total of 122 major languages including the 22 scheduled languages, and a total of 234 mother tongues. Urdu was the sixth most spoken scheduled language of India. In fact, it is spoken by at least a part of the population in all States and Union Territories, except perhaps in our North-Eastern States.”

“In the 2011 Census, the number of mother tongues increased to 270. However, it is to be noted that this number was also arrived at by taking into consideration only those mother tongues which had more than 10,000 speakers. Thus, it would not be wrong to say that the actual number of mother tongues in India would run into thousands. Such is the immense linguistic diversity of India,” it noted.

Delving into the pre-independence language debate, the Bench said, “It was accepted by a large number of Indians that the language which is a product of amalgamation of various Indian languages such as Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi, is what is known as ‘Hindustani’, which a large mass of this country speaks.”

The court said that “under Article 343 of the Constitution, Hindi is the official language, while the use of English was made permissible for official purposes for a period of 15 years”.

“But this does not mean that Hindustani and Urdu have become extinct. This was never the intention of the framers of the Constitution,” it said.

India