Introduction In 19th-century colonial India, language was more than a tool for communication. It was also a marker of identity for communities. While language helped reshape identities in the colonial backdrop, languages themselves were also influenced by policies and practices. Given the diversity of languages and their varying functionality in a place like India, the […]
Urdu and Punjabi: A Zero-Sum Game of Languages in 19th-century Colonial Punjab — Kamal Ki Baatein
Lucknow is the capital of the Indian subcontinent’s Awadhi ‘heartland’, in historian Gyanesh Kudaisya’s evocative words. Less evocatively, it is the capital of the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and its largest city with a population of three million people, of which 26 per cent are Muslim. It is the centre of Shia Islam in India, historically the capital of Awadh, it was one of the major centres during the rebellion in 1857, the cultural capital of north India and home to the famous Chikankari embroidery work, thought to be popularised by Nur Jahan. The Nawabs of Lucknow were known for their refined tastes as much as their extravagant lifestyles, and the city has most beautifully been captured and bought to life in the 1977 film, Shatranj ke Khiladi that was based on the Hindi short-story of the same name by Munshi Premchand and the 1981 film, Umrao Jaan that was based on the Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada by Mirza Hadi Ruswa. Set in mid-nineteenth century Lucknow, they show the decadence of the Lucknavi high society through the life of Nawabs and courtesans, the moral decay/hypocrisy around their lives in the backdrop of political intrigue and rebellion. Shift to the present-day Lucknow/UP and the state is better known for returning a thumping win in the state election of 2017 for an ascending Hindu ‘nation’ led by Narendra Modi and, in return, finding itself being ruled by a Yogi. A milieu previously famous for its adab-tehzeeb is now the habitus of Adityanath and his terrific to many, terrifying to some, presence.
A recent visit their began at the annexe of the Charbagh station, past the pillars of the fly-overs of the-then on-going metro constructions and a rather tasteful red-and-white façade of the Charbagh metro-station with its Jali décor; apropos which my auto-wallah remarked, ‘Akhilesh ne kaam to bahut kiya par chacha ne harwa diya’. In no time, we were in old Lucknow; the narrow, congested streets of Aminabad, where the first thing noticeable was that while many shops had named the lane we were on as Latouche Road, others had it as G.B. Road, for, Gautam Buddha. The incongruity of being in a space that marked its time from both the British Lt-Governor Sir James Latouche (AD 1901-06) and the Shakyamuni Siddhartha (563-483 BC) did not end there. It was also reflected in much of the arms, air guns et al, and ammunitions market on one side being stared at by hundreds of chickens from their kens in many of the poultry-khanas on the other. While the arms stores dated back to 1933, 1940s-50s, prominent among these being Gupta Brothers, Hashim Manzil, with their colonial, hanging, dilapidated balconies, small windows, tapering and peeling pillars, darkening, decaying visage, plants growing out of lime plastered walls, the poultry-khanas seemed without pedigree. Amidst this sea of noisy chatter around the selling of guns and the stoically silent birds, there was also a serene and strikingly yellow-coloured masjid/madrasa and its school of calligraphy. It plainly stood apart and alone in its intent and purpose.
Sadly, I came to know that the young forgotten heroine of the independence movement passed away at the weekend. I interviewed Fatima Sughra in 2009 and only came across her by accident. Below is an extract from the amazing interview with her and sadly many Pakistanis are not even aware her or that she quietly lived in Johar Town, Lahore. At the age of 14 she became involved in local processions/protests being organized by the women working for the All-India Muslim League. Inspired by what was going on Fatima joined them and recalls one eventful day:
I was studying in 9th class. Fatima Begum was very active worker of the Muslim League. She worked with Quaid-i-Azam. She established the imposing Jinnah Islamia College on Multan Road, Lahore. Quaid-i-Azam inaugurated this college. There were usually meetings of the Muslim League in her house. She was sister-in-law of one of my aunty. I often visited my auntie’s house and at the time could not understand what was happening…I only thought that the Muslim League is our party, a party of the Muslims.
I was born in 1931; our house was between Mochi Gate and Shah Alam Gate Lahore. I was 14 and half year old that time and studying in 9th class. In those days, there was a disobedient movement against the Khizr Government and the Muslim League leadership made regular protests and processions in the streets. I read Zamindar newspaper and came to know that Begum Shahnawaz, Begum Salma Tassaduq Hussain, Begum Jalandhri and Fatima Begum were arrested in Lahore. I asked for permission from my father to participate in the processions; finally he allowed me. I along with my friends reached the Assembly Hall that day. I saw at that time a big crowd was shouting and chanting slogans: ‘(Zindabad) Long live Muslim League; long live Qauid-i-Azam; Pakistan will be created whatever it cost to the Muslims (bun kay ray ga Pakistan).
I think it was in February or March 1947. Daily processions were arranged and we took processions to the Radio station, at Mall Road, Jail Road, High Court and Civil Secretariat. We took the procession to the inner city. Hindus laughed at us. I remember the day I took off the Union Jack and replaced it with hoisting a [makeshift] Muslim League flag. Many Muslim women, (who had never stepped out from their house before) came out from their houses and took over the street of the city. This was happening all over because the Begums [elite Muslim League Women leadership] went door to door and convinced the Muslim women to come out from their homes for the protests. I do know what sort of passion was inside me at time; I just jumped over the Secretariat Gate.
There was a girl who was very tall…. I think her name was Begum Aslam. I put my foot on her shoulder and reached at the top of the Secretariat building Lahore. I did not know even, I pulled out the doori (thread) and flag…That day Begum Hadiat Ullah was leading the procession she said to me: ‘are you alright? I shouted, yes, I am alright’. The crowds were shouting slogans. I became very emotional and replaced the Union Jack with the Muslim League flag. Afterwards the Police arrived there; some boys escorted me and helped to get down from the stairs. The police sprayed heavy tear gas and used lati charge over the crowd. I rented a tonga and paid 4 anna and reached home safely. At home I told my mother about hoisting of Muslim League flag……she replied: ‘ok, I know you are doing such things every day’. At our house the daily Zamindar used to come every day and there was big news in the next day’s issue: Fatima Fada Hussian took off the Union Jack and hoisted the Muslim League flag. My father kissed me when I was sleeping because of this act. My father was very proud on me and said to me ‘my daughter I’m proud of you, you have done a big task’. That day I did break my fasting and again went to join the street processions. Begum Sikandar Hayat, Zahida Hayat, Asmat Hayat and Shamim were with me. They had been released from jail. We brought them in the Nasar Bagh in a procession. There was a big gathering and all Begums delivered very stimulating speeches. They called me on the stage and put a har of fruits around my neck. My friend ate most of the fruits and remaining part I showed to mum when I went home. [Laughing]
My father was a well-reputed person in our mohalla and people of the mohalla asked him many things about us. In those days, the people were very good and they cared about other people of mohalla. Now-a-days nobody cared about anything.
I had little interest in politics. I just went to join the processions for enjoyment. I thought that Muslim League represented the Muslims and Quaid-i-Azam was their leader and struggling for the creation a Muslim country. When I hoisted the Muslim League flag in the Secretariat building, many people came to my house to congratulate me and my family. I became a renowned girl.
I got certificate and gold medal. In 1987, Pakistan Government arranged a similar sort of the 1947 flag hoisting occurrence in the Lahore Secretariat building. I did perform and climbed at the Secretariat building even in this old age.
This was an extract from an interview conducted with Fatima Sughra in her house in Johar Town, 2009.
In the midst of the monsoon of August 1947, British India ceased to be and gave way to two independent nations. The logic of this Partition being religious and regional, the older and larger India was reinforced as a Hindu majoritarian society, while the newer and smaller Pakistan emerged as an Islamic country. No Partitions are total and absolute but this one was especially terrible and ambiguous and left a little less-or-more than 20% religious minority population on both sides. Moreover, it created two wings of Pakistan with a hostile Indian body-politic in the midst.
This event was not entirely of sub-continental making. The British Empire in Asia had begun to crack at the hands of the Japanese army during World War Two, most spectacularly with the fall of Singapore in February 1942, and crumbled in South Asia afterwards. Along with India and Pakistan, the-then Burma and Ceylon (both 1948) too emerged independent at this time. All this was to bring about many changes, both internally in India and internationally. Europe, the ravaged battlefield of the World Wars, ceased to be the centre of the Western world, with political and economic power shifting decisively to the former Soviet Union and the United States, representing two contrasting and conflicting ideological visions for the post-1945 world.
The end of the British rule in South Asia happened alongside the emergence of this conflict, christened the Cold War. The road to freedom and partition of India and creation of Pakistan was a long one and accompanied with fundamental social, economic and political changes. From the mutiny of 1857 from Calcutta to Delhi to the massacre of 1919 in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, from the formation of the Indian National Congress in 1885 to the establishment of the All-India Muslim League in 1906, from fighting for King and country in two World Wars to seeking self-rule in the inter-war years, and, from the development of an elaborate civil and military bureaucratic and infrastructural apparatus and a space for provincial politics, all these were to completely transform Indian society.
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