Dr Khawer Nawazish has been teaching at the Urdu Department of the Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, for many years. He has written a number of books and research articles and is widely recognised for his erudition and scholarship. He has recently come out with his new book titled Urdu Aur Hindi: Wahdat/Sanviat.

This book, published by Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore, consists of five chapters. In the first two chapters, the writer discusses the commencement and evolution of these languages from the Indo-Aryan age to present. He infers that these languages have the same linguistic traits but independent literary traditions. In Urdu literature, Muslim ideology and culture is presented, originally imported from the Arab countries and Iran. Whereas in the Hindi language, native culture and traditions have been depicted. In the third chapter, the writer discusses common sources, common ancient names and the structural similarity of the two languages. It shows that in terms of historical and descriptive linguistics, these are avatars of the same language.

The idea has also been proposed by Gayan Chand Jane in his book Aik Bhasha : Do Likhawat, Do Adab. Dr Nawazish is in broad agreement with Jane about many things regarding the languages. He points out that in Urdu almost all books are written from the Muslim perspective, while in Hindi, the writers cater mostly to the Hindu perspective. In the fourth chapter, the duality of Hindi and Urdu is discussed in detail on the basis of words like Tadhboo and Tatsam. This is followed by a discussion of scripts. According to the author, the issue of division between Urdu and Hindi started at Fort William College, Calcutta, where the British made a conscious effort to divide Muslims and Hindus. This resulted in the Urdu-Hindi conflict in 1867.

In Banaras, some Hindus demanded the replacement of the nastaleeq with the devnagree script. Dr Nawazish has his own point of view in this regard. He writes that the division actually began in the age of Shahjahan when the anthology (Kulyat) of Wali Dakni reached northern India. In the last chapter of this book he formalises his conclusions and suggests that the two languages and the two nations can be reunited through cultural elements.

The book is of great import in the contemporary literary and political context. It looks like that Urdu Aur Hindi: Wahdat/Sanviat is the continuation of the discussion that began in 2004 with Gayan Chand Jane’s book. Mirza Khalil Ahmad Baig has contributed to the discussion with his book Aik Bhasha Jo Mustrad Kar Di Gai. In his book, Baig has challenged Dr Jane’s point of view that Urdu did not enjoy chronological precedence over Hindi. He has also tried to show that Urdu was superior to Hindi, not only as a spoken language but also as a literary language. Abdul Satar Dilvi has supported Mirza Khalil Baig’s point of view in his book Do Zabanain, Do Adab. Shams ur Rehman Farooqi also participated in this great discussion about the origin of the two languages.

Urdu Aur Hindi: Wahdat/Sanviat

Author: Dr Khawer Nawazish

Publisher: Sang-e-Meel publications Lahore

Pages: 480

Price: PKR1,050

The writer is the author of five books and dozens of research articles. He can be reached at: azizmaliksgd@gmail.com