Urdu Still Speaks for All

Though few now claim it as a mother tongue, Urdu continues to define the shared space of communication and culture in Jammu and Kashmir.

- Sadaket Ali Malik

On any street in Srinagar, voices flow in different tongues. A baker calls out in Kashmiri, a student answers in Urdu, and someone nearby adds a line in Hindi.

In those few exchanges, you can hear the story of Jammu and Kashmir: diverse people, long history, and the graceful way its identities live together.

Few regions in South Asia carry such linguistic richness. From the slopes of Pir Panjal to the plains of Jammu, speech changes every few miles. Kashmiri, Dogri, Gojri, Pahari, Balti, and Ladakhi each shape local identity and memory.

Every language is a vessel of its own culture. But one tongue ties these worlds together: Urdu.

Urdu’s journey in Jammu and Kashmir began with politics but grew into something far larger.

During the Dogra rule between 1846 and 1947, Maharaja Pratap Singh and later Maharaja Hari Singh replaced Persian, the old court language, with Urdu.

But what started as an administrative decision soon changed the social map of the erstwhile state.

Urdu entered schools, courts, and offices, becoming the language of governance and learning. Within decades, it also became the language of poetry, newspapers, and prayer.

Unlike Kashmiri or Dogri, Urdu did not belong to one community. It belonged to all. Muslims embraced it in literature and religion, Hindus used it in administration and education, and Sikhs found in it a shared space for communication.