What was the Hindi-Urdu Controversy in 1906 in India about?

Answer 1

The Urdu-Hindi controversy had a great effect on the life of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. Before this event he had been a great advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity and was of the opinion that the "two nations are like two eyes of the beautiful bride, India". But this movement completely altered his point of view. He put forward the Two-Nation Theory, predicting that the differences between the two groups would increase with the passage of time and the two communities would not join together in anything wholeheartedly.

History:
During the last days of the Muslim rule, Urdu emerged as the most common language of the northwestern provinces of India. It was declared the official language, and all official records were written in this language. In 1867, some prominent Hindus started a movement in Banaras in which they demanded the replacement of Urdu with Hindi, and the Persian script with the Deva Nagri script, as the court language in the northwestern provinces. The reason for opposing Urdu was that the language was written in Persian script, which was similar to the Arabic script, and Arabic was the language of the Quran, the Holy Book of the Muslims. The movement grew quickly and within a few months spread throughout the Hindu population of the northwestern provinces of India. The headquarters of this movement were in Allahabad.

Sir Syed's belief that Congress was working in the interests of Hindus, and in a way which was harmful to Muslim community, led him to refuse to attend its meetings. Instead he organised an alternative body Called the United Patriotic Alliance. In 1893 this became the Mohammaden Defence Alliance . By this time rivalry between the Hindu and Muslim communities was increasing and there were several examples of Hindus showing disrespect for the Muslim religion. In Bombay some Hindu extremists began playing loud music mosques.

It seemed that in some areas it was becoming increasingly difficult for Muslims and Hindus to live in peaceful co-existence.

Answer 2

The Hindi-Urdu Controversy in 1906 was about the choice of language for official use in British India. Hindi-speaking groups advocated for Hindi to be used, while Urdu-speaking groups preferred Urdu. The controversy highlighted linguistic and cultural differences between the two communities.