Save Gurmukhi to Save Punjabi

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Sikhs are settled all over the world. In most parts of India, outside Punjab, wherever they reside, a sizeable majority of them have maintained their separate identity even though they have lost direct access to the Punjabi language. They have adopted the regional languages as their spoken languages, such as Hindi, Bihari, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Assamese and Bengali.

Under most trying circumstances, Sikhs outside Punjab have held on to their religious values and ethos. I belong to the area of erstwhile Hyderabad State, where the Sikh army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was sent to help the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1930. I am a fourth generation descendant of those families presently living in Hyderabad.


It may come as a surprise to some that most of the non-Punjabi speaking Sikhs read Gurbani in Gurmukhi Script only and maintain complete Sikhi Saroop though they have lost access to spoken Punjabi language because of their local circumstances.
The need for alarm is the present situation where Punjabi speaking children of Punjabi speaking parents read Gurbani in Hindi (Devnagiri script).


In Pakistan, Punjabi language is written in Urdu (Persian) script and in India and other parts of the world, it is written in Gurmukhi script. Forces inimical to the advent of Sikhism have targeted the separate identity of Sikhism and as far as language goes, their prime target has been the Gurmukhi script.


Arya Samaji forces made strenuous attempts to popularize Punjabi in Hindi Script (Devnagari) instead of Gurmukhi. Though they succeeded at the census by returning their mother tongue as Hindi, they failed on the Gurmukhi script front, but they did succeed in imposing Hindi in the whole of North India.


Like Punjabi, Gujarati, Assamese, Bengali, Oriya and Kashmiri, have survived as they were able to maintain their distinct scripts. Other languages like Dogri, Pahari, Haryanavi, Rajasthani, Marwadi, Bihari, Bhojpuri, Maithali, Magahai, Malvi, Bundali, Gondi, Munda and others are on the verge of extinction with some die-hard followers making last ditch attempts to save them. This is primarily due to disregard and lack of interest for their respective scripts. Interestingly, these languages have died out only in the last century. What could not happen in a thousand years of foreign rule has happened pretty quickly under indigenous rulers.

Some years back, with one stroke of the pen, the medium of instruction at the Osmania University of Hyderabad, where medicine, engineering, law and all other faculties were taught in Urdu was changed, thus giving a deadly blow to the language and to the only Urdu medium language University of the world. Now, the rulers of the country want to save the Urdu language as part of an appeasement plan for the Muslim community, otherwise the en bloc voting pattern followed by them will affect their election prospects.
The mother tongue, obviously, has not to be taught; what has to be taught is the script in which the mother tongue is written. A new and cunning methodology that is being adopted to undermine Gurmukhi in a subtle manner requires attention. Hindi newspapers of Punjab are publishing prominent news items with interesting headlines on their front page in Punjabi language but in Hindi script to popularize the paper and the Devngagri usage of Punjabi.


If this cancerous mode spreads among the masses, as is being rapidly done, it may become well-nigh difficult to save the Gurmukhi script.


If the community fails to extensively use Gurbani and Gurmukhi, it will meet the fate of Sanskrit language and script which was destroyed in the name of “Dev Bhasha” (divine language). Once the scripts “Zend” of the Zend-Avastha of Zoroastrians (Parsi), “Hebrew” of the Torah and Bible of the Jews and Christians, Pali of the Dampadda of Buddhism, Prakrit of Jain Sutras, Agams, and Mahavir Vani of Jainism, disappeared, their respective languages followed suit.


It was only after the formation of Jewish homeland state Israel in 1948 that Hebrew was revived by making it the official language of Israel. Similarly, Arabic survived and grew when it became the official language of many Arabian countries.


It is the prime responsibility of every Sikh to search ways and means to counter every attempt to undermine the Gurmukhi script.


According to the Government of India Census 2001, 39.45% of the Sikhs are totally illiterate and maximum illiteracy is in Punjab. A large number of Sikhs in Punjab do not know how to read or write any language! Out of those who know how to read, how many of us read Guru Granth Sahib is a question each Sikh should ask oneself.

On the eve of the Tercentenary of Guruship of Guru Granth Sahib, there is no better way than to rededicate ourselves to the daily recitation and listening of Guru Granth Sahib, the each one teach one Punjabi campaign and the development of an individual and collective will to resist and fight all attempts to foist illegitimate Punjabi in any other script but Gurmukhi.


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A regular columnist for World Sikh News, Nanak Singh “Nishter” is a Hyderabad based orator, writer and Urdu poet. He is an activist-academician making immense contribution to the social and cultural welfare of Sikh society. He has presented papers at national and international seminars on Sikhism and social problems. He is director of International Sikh Centre for Interfaith Relations. He may be contacted at nanaknishter@hotmail.com
26 March 2008


Source: World Sikh News (worldsikhnews.com)