The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of viewing Urdu through a communal lens after the BJP launched a campaign to remove Urdu as a mandatory qualification for naib tehsildar posts in Jammu Kashmir. Following a court judgment that cancelled the Urdu requirement, the BJP has been celebrating the decision as a victory.
“BJP’s attempt to view Urdu through a communal lens marks a dangerous and disgraceful new low in our political discourse in J&K. Urdu is not a symbol of any religion but the throbbing pulse of Jammu Kashmir’s identity, echoing collective memories and soulful struggles of our people over centuries. It is the language of poets, courts, revenue offices, administration and everyday life here,” senior PDP leader and legislator Waheed ur Rehman Para wrote on X.
Para expressed concern over the CAT’s (Central Administrative Tribunal) order staying the requirement of basic Urdu knowledge for the naib tehsildar exam, calling it a worrying sign of judicial forums succumbing to political pressure. “The BJP’s protests appear to be shaping institutional responses, which is an alarming trend in any democracy,” he said.
He added that Urdu must be preserved not just as a language, but as a symbol of Jammu Kashmir’s shared heritage, administrative continuity, and cultural identity that binds its diverse regions together.
{{/usCountry}}He added that Urdu must be preserved not just as a language, but as a symbol of Jammu Kashmir’s shared heritage, administrative continuity, and cultural identity that binds its diverse regions together.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, the BJP’s youth wing celebrated the court decision at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Tuesday.