Maulvi Abdul Haq
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Maulvi Abdul Haq (Urdu: مولوی عبد الحق) (b. 1870 – d. 1961) was the noted Urdu linguist, scholar, writer, researcher and activist who is unanimously celebrated as Baba-i-Urdu (Urdu: بابائے اردو) (Father of Urdu). He was a champion of the Urdu language and the demand for it to be made the national language of Pakistan.
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[edit] Early life
Haq was born on April 20, 1870 in the village of Hapur, near the city of Meerut in the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh), India. Haq developed an affinity for the Urdu, Deccani, Persian and Arabic. He did B.A. from Aligarh Muslim University in 1894 where he found company of some of the savants of that time, including, Shibli Nomani, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Ross Masood, Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Syed Mehmud, Professor Arnold, and Babu Mukharjee. After graduation, Abdul Haq went to Hyderabad Deccan and associated to learning, teaching, translating and upgrading Urdu. Haq was deeply influenced by Sir Syed's political and social views, and learnt English and scientific subjects. Like Khan, Haq saw Urdu as a major cultural and political influence on the life and identity of the Muslims of India. He founded the Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu in 1903 in Aligarh. Professor Arnold become the first president and Shibli Nomani the first secretary. Haq joined the Indian Civil Service under the British Raj, and worked as a chief translator at the Home Department in Delhi, before being appointed as the provincial inspector of schools at Aurangabad in the Central Provinces (now in Maharashtra). In the same year, he was appointed secretary of the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference, which had been founded by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in 1886 for the promotion of education and intellectualism in Muslim society. He become Principal of Osmania College (Aurangabad) and retired in 1930.
[edit] Educational and political activities
Following the establishment of the Osmania University by the Nizam Osman Ali Khan, Asif Jah VII of the Hyderabad State in 1917, Haq moved to Hyderabad to teach and help build the university. All subjects at the university were taught in Urdu, and under Haq's influence the institution became a patron of Urdu and Persian literature and linguistic heritage. Appointed as chairman of the department faculty of Urdu, Haq emerged as a leading literary critic and accomplished writer in the intellectual life of Hyderabad. He published numerous works of Urdu poetry, as well as treatises on linguistics, Islam, history, politics and philosophy. Widely respected as a scholar and teacher, Haq was a scholarly critic who provided criticisms of modern Urdu works and encouraged his students to develop literary skills and appreciation of Urdu. Following his retirement in 1930, Haq worked to compile and edit a comprehensive and authoritative English-Urdu dictionary. Haq was also a leading figure in the Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam, a Muslim socio-political body of intellectuals. He also led the Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu (Organisation for the Progress of Urdu), which had been founded as a group of Urdu scholars, intellectuals and students. Initially focusing on intellectual subjects and work, in 1930 Haq led the group in protest against a campaign by Indian nationalists to promote the use of Hindi as the national language of India. Haq became a fierce critic of Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress, the largest political party in the nation. Suspicious and averse to the Congress and the Indian independence movement, in which Hindus composed a majority of leaders and participants, Haq joined the All India Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
[edit] In Pakistan
Haq supported the Muslim League's demand for a separate Muslim state of Pakistan, which led to the partition of India on August 15, 1947. In November 1947, Haq migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi. Amidst the intense violence and chaotic conditions that accompanied the cross-migration of millions of people, much of Haq's property, especially valuable manuscripts, papers and books were lost during their shipment to Karachi via Lahore. The ordeals of partition and the migration also adversely affected Haq's health. Haq re-organised the Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Urdu in Karachi, launching journals, establishing libraries and schools, publishing a large number of books and promoting Urdu education and linguistic research. Haq's work especially helped preserve the distinct "Old Urdu" linguistic and literary traditions of Hyderabad, known as Hyderabadi Urdu. Haq also used his organisation for political activism, promoting the adoption of Urdu as the lingua franca and sole official language of Pakistan. He criticised the popular movement that had arisen in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to demand the recognition of Bengali, stressing his belief that only Urdu represented Muslim hertiage and should be promoted exclusively in national life. Condemning the 1952 Language movement agitations in East Pakistan, Haq was infuriated by the decision of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan to make Bengali a second official language. With the help of the Anjuman and sympathetic political parties, he organised a major series of public rallies and processions in Lahore and Karachi on April 22, 1954.
[edit] Baba-e-Urdu
Despite illnesses and failing health, Haq continued to promote the active use of Urdu as a medium for all activities. He pushed for the creation of a Urdu university, the adoption of Urdu as a medium of instruction for all subjects in educational institutions and worked to organise a national Urdu conference in 1959. Suffering from cancer, Haq died after a prolonged period of incapacitation on August 16, 1961 in Karachi. His most famous works include the English-Urdu dictionary, Chand Ham Asar, Maktoobat, Muqadimat, Tauqeedat, Qawaid-e-Urdu and Debacha Dastan Rani Ketki. The Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Urdu remains an important intellectual organisation in Pakistan.
Pakistan officially commemorates Maulvi Abdul Haq as the Baba-i-Urdu. He is criticised by some historians and scholars for his conservativism and insistence of Urdu as the sole official language, a cause which served to intensify the sectional gulf in Pakistan and led to the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Held in high esteem amongst intellectuals, educationalists and scholars in Pakistan, Haq is praised for his work in promoting Muslim heritage and Urdu as a unifying medium for Pakistani Muslims.
[edit] See also
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| History: | 1857 War of Independence - Hindi-Urdu controversy - Aligarh Movement - MAO College - Aligarh Muslim University - Pakistan movement |
| Pioneers: | Sir Syed - Mohsin-ul-Mulk - Viqar-ul-Mulk - Maulana Hali - Shibli Nomani - Hakim Ajmal Khan - more... |
| Alumni: | Ross Masood - Maulana Mohammad Ali - Liaquat Ali Khan - Khawaja Nazimuddin - Zakir Hussain - Abdur Rab Nishtar - Sheikh Abdullah - Ziauddin Ahmed - Maulana Shaukat Ali - Zafar Ali Khan - more... |
