`LANGUAGE belongs to a community, to a region, to people; and not to a religion. 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 tehzeeb, or the Hindustani tehzeeb, which is the composite cultural ethos of the plains of northern and central India.

The historic comments, quoted verbatim here, are part of the judgement given by the Supreme Court of India on April 15, 2025, in a case in which the Indian State of Maharashtra was the respondent.

The appellant, Mrs Varshatai, had challenged the use of Urdu on the signboard of a new building of the Municipal Council, Patur, in dis-trict of Akola, Maharashtra. The words written on the signboard were `Municipal Council, Patur`, in the Marathi language at the top with its translation below in Urdu.

The appellant`s ground of challenge was that Marathi was the official language and all work conducted by the government or its bodies, including local ones, must be in Marathi.

After a prolonged legal battle at the local level and the High Court, the case landed at the Supreme Court.

In its judgment, the Supreme Court said: `a Municipal Council is there to provide services to the local community of the area and cater to their 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 theMunicipal Council`. The Indian Supreme Court in its judgment has also quoted Jawaharlal Nehru as saying that Hindi should be enriched by borrowing the vocabulary from Urdu.

Urdu Adab, the quarterly Urdu magazine published by Delhi`s Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu Hind (ATUH), in its latest issue (July-Dec 2025) has exclusively covered the burning issue: Urdu`s status in India. It also discusses the Indian Supreme Court`s verdict that has allowed the use of Urdu on signboards. In his note Ather Farouqui, the secretary and editor, writes that just as the petition by Hindi Sahitya Sammelan (Hindi Literature Congress) challenging the provincial legislation passed in 1989 (which enabled Urdu to become the second official language in Uttar Pradesh), was rejected by the Supreme Court, this petition againstuse of Urdu in Maharashtra has also been rejected. Nobody, not a single person, from the so-called `mujahideen` of Urdu, had requested to become the intervener in the case and the Supreme Court alone fought the case on behalf of Urdu, adds Farouqui sarcastically. He is of the view that Urdu is being denied its rights in India and feels the judgment by the Supreme Court is `a breath of fresh air` India`s linguistic problems include the question of a nationallanguage: India`s constitution does not mention as to what would be India`s national language. Under the Article 343 of the Indian constitution, Hindi is India`s official language and the use of English for official use is also permissible. The question of India`s national language has always been a bone of contention: in 1960s, the protest was almost out of hand when southern states of India threatenedto part ways with Delhi if Hindi was to be imposed as national language.

A trilingual formula was adapted to resolve the crisis, allowing three languages to be adapted, English, Hindi and any local Indian language.

Sadiqur Rahman Kidvai, ATUH`s president, in his editorial says `no doubt, Hindi should be India`s national language but it is not possible until Hindi-walas sincerely recognise that the other Indian languages are at par with Hindi when it comes to prestige`. Commenting on the status of languages in Indian educational system, Kidvai laments thatinnorthernpartsofIndia,upto grade 12, Hindi has the monopoly.

In the name of trilingual formula, in Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit has been included as the third language while Hindi is taught as a compulsory language. The only purpose of teaching Sanskrit as a modern Indian language, writes Kidvai, is tocease the teaching of Urdu at school level.

Ralph Russell`s article on issues faced by Urdu in post-independence era had sparked a debate when first published in 1999. It was included in Russell`s book How Not to Write the History of Urdu Literature. Rendered into Urdu by Anjuman Ara and made a part of the issue, it mentions how Inder Kumar Gujral Committee report reviewing Urdu`s progress was consigned to cold storage. But Russell also blames Urdu-walas, calling them out for their certain psychological weaknesses and that includes the misplaced sense of superiority among UP Muslims, always behaving like aristocrats, says Russell.

The issue can be read online, free of cost, at ATUH`s website (atuh.

org).

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