In Delhi alone, about a million people can read Urdu. But over the years, the language has been associated only with people of a certain community as there has been a steady decline in Urdu speakers among non-Muslims.

The Urdu media is often criticised on the grounds that it has become a mouthpiece of the community and plays on popular biases, reinforcing the narrative that it’s difficult to be a Muslim in India. There’s a lack of objectivity and exclusion of a larger worldview and holistic analysis. Two scholars and a senior journalist, who wished to remain anonymous, are of the view that Urdu is not the language of Muslims alone. According to them, it’s the Urdu media that is responsible for communalising the language.

“The reform of Urdu media is integral to the reform of the whole Muslim community and to integrate them entirely with the mainstream,” says an Urdu scholar who also writes in Hindi and English. But scholars feel that the change has to come from within the community.

But as they popularly say: charity begins at home. A glimmer of hope and a step in the right direction is the Urdu daily Roznama Mera Watan. It was started three years ago by Arshad Faridi, who has 25 years of experience in Hindi journalism, and now has a circulation of more than 50,000 copies in north India— across 40 cities.

Faridi, who belongs to the Sufi family of Salim Chishti of Fatehpur Sikri, wanted an Urdu newspaper that would address two issues—the alienation of the community and distorted news. “India is my country, and Muslims have nourished this country with their blood. Deobandis participated in the national moment with their heart and soul. I’m a Muslim and a patriot and the two terms are not mutually exclusive,” he asserts in Urdu.

Time and again, Muslims are dubbed as anti-nationals. And the Urdu press has only added fuel to the fire. However, Afridi asserts that this is not true; Muslims are as much an Indian as a member of any other community.

The community has to be exposed to news from all over the world in an objective manner, and not in a manner that distilled, narrow, or negative. Roznama Mera Watan, as the very name suggests, endeavours to give Urdu readers a factual account of events that matter from India and abroad. Abdul Rehman, a Supreme Court lawyer who is an expert in Ghalib’s work and regularly contributes articles in Hindi, Urdu and English, says: “I’m following the newspaper from its inception and support their editorial policy. They don’t subscribe to an ideology or point of view of a particular political party. It’s not like other Urdu dailies that get identified with a particular political interest group.”  He asserts that after all, this is the basic requirement of any journalistic publication: to give a factual premise to its readers and allow them to decide for themselves. But some scholars are also of the opinion that the Urdu media is community-driven. This is not entirely misplaced.

Faridi makes it very clear that the media should not be employed to provoke communal sentiments for or against a community. On the contrary, it should help create an informed society that makes informed decisions. “Roznama Mera Watan endeavours to bring Muslims into the mainstream and not alienate them; it’s not a newspaper for ghettos,” he explains in Urdu.

The publication had to face opposition and was trolled for having joined hands with anti-Muslims forces. But Faridi is undeterred, and nothing really has been able to prevent him from implementing his vision in the last three years. The going has been tough; he has sold off property, taken loans, sought donations, and runs this daily on a shoestring budget from a basement in Bhogal. There were occasions when he had no option but to suspend publication, but the support of committed readers has given him the motivation to keep up the good work. “If I had political masters, this wouldn’t be the state of finances,” he jokes.

The newspaper covers a host of issues—like politics, travelogues, interviews, discussion on career options, art and architecture, culture and a lot more that isn’t community specific. Urdu scholar Khwaja Abdul Muntaqim makes an interesting observation, “There are many readers of Urdu newspapers and periodicals but not many buyers. People just read it in a tea shop or other public places.”  

Urdu is among the six most widely spoken languages in India, along with Hindi and English, and is one of the very few languages spoken in more than one state, with at least one Urdu newspaper being published in more than 20 states/union territories. Contrary to popular perception, according to the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), Urdu newspapers have seen robust growth over the last few years. They saw an increase during the mid-1960s, in the late 1970s, then again during the late 1980s and early 1990s and again after 2006. Most of the Urdu publications are registered in five states and 23 cities, out of which Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are the leading states.

He’s critical that Urdu media lacks an objective approach and more often than not, is seen playing the communal card. But he is happy that there’s a newspaper that lays emphasis on cultural issues, rich literary traditions and poetry, communal harmony and common history. “The two communities have strong reasons to be together rather than to fight,” he adds with a smile.

This piece was first published in Patriot.