Resumption of Urdu programme on Betar

Bangladesh Betar, the national radio broadcast service, is thinking to resume Urdu broadcasting under its world service programme after five years of suspension. The move has simultaneously sparked a debate and criticism on social media, where some labelled it as a wrong move that went against the 'spirit' of the country's war of independence in 1971. Some also questioned the necessity of resuming the Urdu programme, which was shut down in 2019. Currently, the national radio's external services department broadcasts five hours of daily programmes in four foreign languages. These are English, Arabic, Hindi, and Nepali.

The debate on the resumption of Urdu service is not surprising, as it reflects a misunderstanding about the language and its rich history. Originating around 800 years ago in the northern part of India under the Mughal rule, Urdu has flourished in phases and spread across different parts of the land, including Bengal. It was primarily known as Hindustani and later flourished as Hindawi or Hindavi. Under Persian influence from the beginning, the script is Perso-Arabic, though in some places, the Devnagri script has been introduced in later years.

As British rule started in the middle of the 17th century, there was a calculated move to divide the language between the Hindus and the Muslims. The British rulers strongly backed the idea that Urdu is for the Muslims and Hindi for the Hindus. Keeping the basic grammar and structure almost unchanged, Sanskrit-influenced Hindi has become the language of Indian Hindus that uses Devnagri script. The Perso-Arabic script becomes the symbol of Indian Muslims, and the language is Urdu. After the emergence of India and Pakistan in 1947, Urdu became Pakistan's State language. In India, Hindi became the State language.

The Pakistani rulers, led by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, tried to impose Urdu on the people of East Bengal, undermining their mother tongue, Bangla. The protest against the move led to the eventful day of February 21 in 1952, forcing Pakistani rulers to accept Bangla as one of the two state languages of the country. The day is now globally recognised as the International Mother Language Day. The Bangla language movement became one of the key sources of inspiration for emancipation that finally led to the war of liberation in 1971, and the outcome was the emergence of a sovereign Bangladesh.

Now, the legitimate protest, struggle and war against the Pakistani oppressive regime do not mean that there should be any hatred against Urdu language or practising the language is synonymous with support for Pakistan.  During the British rule, Dhaka was one of the hubs of Urdu across the sub-continent. Besides the chaste Urdu speaking people who also produced volumes of Urdu books, papers, journals and notes in Dhaka, a version of localised Urdu also developed in later decades known as Dhakkaia Urdu. Many historical documents in Urdu are still available in Dhaka. Some madrashas also teach in Urdu, as there is a lot of Islamic religious literature in Urdu. Interestingly, during the war of independence in 1971, Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra radio broadcasting centre also aired a programme in Urdu.

Urdu is not just a language, it's a bridge that connects different cultures. It is widely used in some parts of India. The first Urdu newspaper in the sub-continent, 'Jam-i Jahan-Numa', was published in 1822 from Kolkata, and the editor was Harihar Dutta. Mirza Ghalib, the greatest poet of Urdu literature, lived in Delhi 200 years ago and is still revered for his works. As Urdu and Hindi are twin sisters in the language world, having command of one of those equip a person to communicate in both the languages.

The reintroduction of the Urdu programme in Bangladesh Betar should not be seen as a wrong move or an attempt to 'Paksitanisation' of the country. Instead, it should be viewed as an opportunity to disseminate the country's culture and values to non-Bengali people. However, it's crucial to improving the overall quality of the radio's external service programme in order to attract the targeted audiences.

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