From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In 1867, some Hindus in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh during the British Raj in India began to demand that Hindi should be made an official language in place of Urdu[1]. Communal violence broke out as the issue was taken up by firebrands. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan had once stated, "I look to both Hindus and Muslims with the same eyes & consider them as two eyes of a bride. By the word nation I only mean Hindus and Muslims and nothing else. We Hindus and Muslims live together under the same soil under the same government. Our interest and problems are common and therefore I consider the two factions as one nation." Speaking to Mr. Shakespeare, the governor of Banaras, after the language controversy heated up, he said "I am now convinced that the Hindus and Muslims could never become one nation as their religion and way of life was quite distinct from one and other."
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the foremost intellectual among the Indian Muslim population and probably the native Indian to whom the British lent the most credence, was greatly affected by the Hindi-Urdu Controversy. In a prescient moment, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan later said "now I am convinced that both these communities will not join whole heartedly in anything. At present there is no open hostility between the two communities but it will increase immensely in the future." Proponents of the creation of an Islamic republic called Pakistan often label Sir Syed one of the originators of the idea, based on this quote and others like it.
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
For a detailed review of Urdu-Hindustani-Hindi controversy, see a 3-part detailed review:
|
Aligarh - Muslim University & the Movement |
|
| History |
|
.jpg/25px-Sir_Syed_Ahmed_Khan_(2).jpg)  |
|
| Pioneers |
|
|
| Alumni |
|
|
