Whats happening to Urdu in Hidustan which is being referred in this poem of Manzar Bhopali?
Zaban-e-hind hai urdu to mathe ke** shikan** kiyun hai
vatan mein be-vatan kiyun hai
meri mazalum urdu teri sanson mein ghutan q hai
tera lahaja mahakata hai to lafzon mein thakan q hai
**agar tu phul hai to phul mein itni chubhan q hai
**vatan mein be-vatan q hai
ye nanak ke ye khusro ke daya shankar ke boli hai
ye divali ye baisakhi ye id-ul-fitr holi hai
magar ye dil ke dhadakan aj kal dil ke jalan q hai
vatan mein be-vatan q hai
ye nazon se pali thi mir ke galib ke aangan mein
jo suraj ban ke chamaki thi kabhi mahalon ke daman mein
**wo shah-zadi zabanon ke yahan be-anjuman q hai
**vatan mein be-vatan q hai
muhabbat ka sabhi elan kar jate hain mahafil mein
ke is ke vaste jazba hai ham-dardi ka har dil mein
**magar haq mangane ke waqt ye beganapan q hai
**vatan mein be-vatan q hai
ye doshiza jo bazaron se ithalati guzarati thi
labon ke nazuki jis ke gulabon si bikharati thi
**jo tahazibon ke sar ke odhani thi ab kafan q hai
**vatan mein be-vatan q hai
muhabbat ka agar dawa hai to is ko bachao tum
jo wada kal kiya tha aj wo wada nibhao tum
agar tum ram ho to phir ye raavan ka chalan q hai
vatan mein be-vatan q hai
Re: Watan main be-watan Urdu
www.**urdu**studies.com/pdf/10/19**problem**.pdf
In independent India, severe punishment was meted out to Urdu, because it was equated with a language that divided up the country. The effects of the punishment were felt more strongly in Uttar Pradesh, because the Muslims there, on account of their particular cultural and social conditions, had all along been considered the best representatives of Muslims throughout India, which to me is rather ridiculous.
By the time 1956 arrived, Muslims started to brood over the question:
Why, after all, was Urdu being treated so high-handedly? They felt by placing the responsibility of the creation of Pakistan squarely upon Urdu to destroy our illustrious common cultural heritage half-a-millennium old, the narrow-minded Hindus sought to conspire against us. About this time a new feeling also emerged among Muslims: All right, Urdu is solely the language of Muslims. What of it? Why be ashamed of it? After all, Muslims too are citizens of the country, a country which professes to be secular. I must point out, though, when Muslims began to accept Urdu openly as their language, their attitude sounded distinctly apologetic at first. This because Urdu had been already indicted for the uncommitted crime of partitioning the country, and except for a handful of Indian. Hindus, most had disowned it as their language.
- It is neither wrong nor discreditable, I feel, that we now begin to declare, unequivocally and openly, that Urdu is the language of the Muslims of north India. I also oppose the apologetic view whereby Urdu is presented as the language equally of Hindus and Sikhs. Let’s be honest. Today Urdu belongs only to Muslims. Yes, it was the language of Hindus and Sikhs at one time. But no more. Its entire perspective has dramatically changed today. Had the Urdu issue been raised as the Muslim issue—that it was, after all, the language of the largest minority in the country totaling some 100 to 120 million people, then, in my opinion, the Urdu pressure group would have successfully wrested a whole bunch of concessions for Urdu right in the very beginning, concessions which would have truly been helpful to Urdu. Instead, what did we get? Urdu academies! Not primary schools! And all because of our apologetic attitude. What good are the Urdu academies, when there are no primary schools to teach Urdu?
At this point I feel I must mention the unspeakable conditions which came close upon the heels of Partition. You simply cannot imagine the state of fear and dread which had totally gripped Muslims. Accusations of being traitors; the fear of being kicked out of India just because they were Muslims; keeping them away from any position of importance or authority; secret orders not to give them employment in the police department (rescinded only during Indira Gandhi’s government); you name it—in the midst of all these horrific conditions the Indian Muslim was facing the existential question of his survival. Many Muslims who had not opted for Pakistan out of love for their motherland, were later even obliged to resign their jobs. This was an important reason why Muslim emigration to Pakistan continued for a very long time.
(Extracts from a long interview of famus Indian Urdu writer Shamsulr Rehman Farooqi)