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.