What is Urdu? Has it changed?

Pakistan Today caught up with Professer Shamim Hanfi and Dr Siddique-ur-Rehman Qidwai, who have come from India to take part in the three day Al-Hamra Literary and Cultural conference and to gather their opinions about the role of Urdu language in both India and Pakistan as well as the transformation it went through over the years. Prof Hanfi from New Delhi said Lahore was a familiar place for him as he visited it every year. He said he always noticed the vibrancy of the life in Lahore. He said the city had changed over the years. This leads to a question. Has Urdu changed over the years? And what about the socio-political thought that was part of the language.
“With time, changes come in every language. Urdu is no exception,” says Prof Hanfi. “Of course Urdu writers and poets cannot stay uninfluenced from Western influence or any other influence for that matter. The best part about this language is that it is strong where the power of assimilation is concerned. It manages to absorb so easily that it grows and grows.” “We must not think that Urdu has been lost somewhere,” says Dr Qadwai. “Urdu is now layered and has become richer with elements from other cultures.
One thing to understand is that as Indians and Pakistanis (people who speak and read and write Urdu) have traveled and settled down throughout the world, they have obviously given and taken parts of language. Of course this has made the language more widespread and as a result the thoughts that have been expressed in Urdu therefore are now very broad which encompass a lot of cultures and their lifestyles.”
They agree that Urdu and even Hindi are a bridge that connect both India and Pakistan. “The advantage that Urdu has of being promoted here in Pakistan is not present in India,” says Prof Hanfi. “But there are texts which are then transcripted in Sanskrit or are read out so that Hindi reading audiences can also understand those thoughts.” “In short, music, art and literature are without boundaries,” smiles Dr Qadwai. “These things can never be stopped from influences from changes…people should understand that changes are natural, a part of the cycle of growth and that changes mean that the language is more layered and richer. That is in fact the only way to preserve the language.
Of course we will not be speaking the same language that we used to speak in the sub continent 100 years ago.” Urdu, he says, has its own world whose power surpasses boundaries. They immediately refute and reject the idea that Hindi is a “Hindu language” while Urdu is for Muslims. Though they say this thought is prevalent in very few pockets, it is fast disappearing because it is impractical more than anything. “This is wrong.” Says Prof Hanfi blatantly. “This is an incorrect thought and its wrong to believe this because language is not anyone’s ownership. Especially not religion wise.”
He names several Indian Muslims that write in other languages. “There is Mohammad Basheer who wrote in Tamil, and Malayalam, Asad Zaidi, Gul Sher, Naeem, Badar-uz-Zaman, and Manzoor Ehtesham who have written in Hindi, and several others who have written Bengali and Kannar languages,” says Dr Qadwai. “Then we have Dr Jayant Parmar who is here with us in the delegation who writes in Urdu too. So you see there is no religious demarcation of any language. It is impossible and ridiculous.”