The BJP-led Rajasthan government has initiated a directive to replace Urdu and Persian words used in police terminology with Hindi ones, sparking criticism and raising concerns about linguistic and cultural erasure. The state’s police department has been instructed to identify commonly used Urdu words and suggest Hindi alternatives, reports The Hindustan Times.
The move follows a letter by Minister of State for Home Affairs Jawahar Singh Bedham to Rajasthan DGP U.R. Sahoo, emphasising that Urdu words, rooted in the Mughal era, are no longer relevant given the dominance of Hindi in official communication.
In a November 22 directive, DGP Sahoo asked the Additional Director General of Police (ADG) Training to compile a list of Urdu terms currently in use and propose Hindi replacements. The directive also mandates briefing new police recruits and revising training materials to exclude Urdu.
Terms like thana haza (concerned police station), taftish (investigation), and mustagis (complainant), commonly featured in official documents such as FIRs and chargesheets, will be replaced with Hindi equivalents.
Bedham justified the initiative, stating, “New recruits and officers are unfamiliar with Urdu. We need to ensure that ‘shudh’ (pure) Hindi is used in all police communications.”
The Congress party has called the move a political stunt, questioning its practical relevance. Congress spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi argued, “These words have been in use for decades. If Rajasthan adopts this change but neighbouring states retain these terms, what purpose does it serve? The government should have consulted legal and professional bodies before implementing such a shift.”
This development is part of a larger trend in Rajasthan, where Urdu has faced systemic exclusion in education and public institutions. Since 2019, Urdu education has been discontinued in several schools across the state, particularly in Muslim-majority areas.
In some cases, schools offering Urdu-medium education have been merged with Hindi-medium institutions. This shift has resulted in a significant decline in the number of Urdu-medium schools, from over 30 in 2005-06 to just eight in 2024.
Critics argue that such measures reflect a broader agenda to marginalise Urdu, a language historically intertwined with India’s cultural and literary heritage. The move, they say, is not just about administrative convenience but also part of a political strategy aimed at promoting linguistic homogeneity at the expense of cultural diversity.
The debate continues as opposition leaders and cultural activists call for a more inclusive approach that respects the historical significance of Urdu while addressing the practical needs of governance.
