Hindustani Prachar Sabha and Hindi-Urdu Debate

Abstract

The history of Hindi-Urdu debate traces its lineage from 1860s with Bhartendu Harishchandra. It began with the search for a modern language different from Persian and Arabic. Very soon it took the form of assertion of ‘Hindu’ culture different from Muslim culture. The presence of British rule in India acted as a catalyst in the language debate as colonial masters created a division in the Indian society along religious lines. In the aftermath of 1857 revolt in India, the colonial masters sought to cultivate the friendship and affection of Hindu upper classes and castes. This was done by presenting a false narrative of British rule in India as a emancipation of Hindus from centuries-old Muslim rule. The colonial masters sought to highlight and deepen the cultural differences between Hindus and Muslims. As a result, Persian and Arabic which were the official languages in India for more than five hundred years came to be seen as foreign languages. Hindus started seeing Muslims as outsiders and sought to do away with those cultural practices which they saw as Islamic. The search for Hindi as a language of Hindus can be seen in this light. With rise of freedom movement in India on a mass scale under the leadership of M.K. Gandhi, the Hindi-Urdu debate entered a new terrain. Gandhi believed in the necessity of a common language across India which can be used by the masses. Clearly, he sought to use language as a binding force for the Indians across region and religion. Gandhi rejected both Persian/Arabic on one hand and Sanskritized Hindi on the other and he advocated the use of Urdu was commonly spoken across large parts of north India and Deccan plateau.

He called this language Hindustani and advocated both Devnagri and Persian script for it. Also, he started a committee for the propagation of Hindustani across India, especially south and north-east India. This Committee is known as Hindustani Prachar Sabha. Many people were associated with the Sabha but it got a fresh lease of life when Kaka Kalelkar was given the responsibility of the Sabha by Gandhi. As the head of this committee Kalelkar had to face the Hindi-Urdu debate. He tried to strike a balance between the idealism of Gandhi and the orthodoxy of the advocated of Hindi as well as Persian/Arabic. This paper seeks to trace Kalelkar position in this debate and analyze its implications in the larger cultural domains of 20th century India.