New Delhi: “Is your mother tongue Muslim?”
No, it’s not us. This is what Delhi University (DU) wants to know from students seeking admission to degree courses in its colleges.
The DU’s undergraduate admission form lists Muslim as a mother tongue, but there is no mention of Urdu. For some officials of the University, there is no difference between Muslim and Urdu, or so it seems.
It is certainly embarrassing that those at an University of the stature of DU are not in the know that many non-Muslims, mostly poets and writers, use Urdu in states like Uttar Pradesh.
Poets and scholars like Brij Narain ‘Chakbast’, Raghupati Sahay, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Jamuna Das Akhtar, Ram Lal, Dr Jagannath Azad and Krishna Chander contributed heavily to the language that was called Urdu for the first time in 1780 by Ghulam Hamadani Mushafi. The Mughals called the language Hindi or Hindavi. It came to be known as a language for Muslims as it used the Persian script, many believe.
After coming in for severe criticism for this faux pas, DU quickly issued a statement calling it a “clerical error”.
“The University of Delhi sincerely regrets the inadvertent error in its admission form. We acknowledge your concerns and are committed to addressing them. However, attributing ulterior motives to this entirely unintentional oversight is unwarranted. We request all not to vitiate the University’s diverse and harmonious environment,” noted the official statement.
The admission portal was briefly taken down and later restored. Officials confirmed that the form has been fixed and Urdu added back. But not everyone is convinced it was just a technical blip.
Many refused to accept that this was a ‘clerical’ error. While some blamed it on ignorance, others said that it was done deliberately to associate a particular religion with a language.
In its statement, DU said: “We acknowledge your concerns and are committed to addressing them… attributing ulterior motives to this entirely unintentional oversight is unwarranted.”
