Urdu
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BJP slips on Hindi; Tamil Nadu stands firm
Quoting Garga Chatterjee on how Hindi was pushed against Urdu in nineteenth-century Uttar Pradesh, the author argues that imposing Hindi is a bad idea and that Hindu nationalism, a many-headed…
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The Jahanara debate & how Desis must dress
The author compares Pakistani, Iranian and Hindi pronunciations of the name Jahanara, argues Urdu grew from a Hindustani standard once called Hindi, notes how much of India’s medieval history is…
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As India Saffronises, 9 Questions on her Za’faran sister (IranZamin) with Professor Foltz-
Starting from the etymology of saffron, the author laments the loss of India’s Islamicate and Persianate heritage as the country saffronises, with Urdu left to the Hindu majority’s mercy. He…
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The Indian Muslim question
After an open-thread row over Pakistani Hindus and Indian Muslims, the author says he feels he de-Muslimises himself in India, argues Indians treat Muslims like a caste while Pakistan sorts…
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Short Note on “outsiders”
Replying to a commenter, the author says he proposed that Persian gradually replace English, not Urdu, in Pakistan, arguing English is the language of elite power and that decolonisation must…
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Should the Pakistani elite revive Sab-ki-Hindi (the Farsi of India).
Prompted by a Kathak performance, the author argues that the noblest thing Pakistan’s elite could do is revive the medieval Persian of India, completing the long Persianisation of the Indus…
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Did the Brits “Indianise” the NorthWest?
Asking whether the British ‘re-Indianised’ the north-west, the author argues Sindh, Balochistan and the Frontier saw long Iranian and Muslim influence, while British patronage of Hindi, canal colonies and middle-class…
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The many ways of being Brown Diasporic
The author admits he cannot follow half of Zach’s posts because of their South Asian pop-culture and Hindi-Urdu references, and uses this to show that diasporic brown people differ widely,…
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Beware of Hinditvas
Zach defends his earlier criticism of Hindi as an artificial language, dubbing his critics ‘Hinditvas’, and says liberal Pakistanis are equally hypocritical about Islam. He blames both Nehru and Jinnah-style…
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No Muslim actors please; we’re Hindu..
A short comment on a photo of a Hindi film delegation meeting Narendra Modi, in which no Muslim star appears, ending with a lament for Urdu.
