Comments on: “I regret having named him Sahil”: Urdu names in India

By: How did Arabic get on that sign? – Language on the Move

How did Arabic get on that sign? – Language on the Move — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 21:05:39 +0000

[…] Ahmad, R. (2020). “I regret having named him Sahil”: Urdu names in India. Language on the Move. https://languageonthemove.com/i-regret-having-named-him-sahil-urdu-names-in-india/ Ahmad, R. (2020). Multilingual resources key to fighting COVID-19. Language on the Move. […]

By: Ingrid Piller

Ingrid Piller — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 04:02:10 +0000

In reply to Hasan. Thank you, Hasan! We live in hope!

By: Hasan

Hasan — Sun, 06 Nov 2022 13:10:03 +0000

It’s really a sad time for India, BJP and its radical viewpoints are creating a terrifying atmosphere in India. All over India people who are Muslim or have Urdu names. Even people with Christian names are facing problems. The right-wing politics of the BJP was always very radical. They always tried to make Indian an all-Hindu country just like Pakistan (all Islam). However. this is not simply possible as India is a diverse country with people from various backgrounds. But it seems that Muslims are facing the most punishment in India. Hindi and Urdu are basically the same languages but with different writing scripts. This really bothers a lot of people like me why these radical people assume one’s religious beliefs just based on their name, name which can be from both languages. Nowadays BJP workers are getting even more aggressive, and they will try to kill anybody with an Urdu name. Naming your child is a concerning matter as it might be the reason for their death. Hopefully, this situation will end soon.

By: Gegentuul

Gegentuul — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 02:36:13 +0000

It is so sad that human beings everywhere want to dichotomise everything (Hindu/Muslim) and abhor and punish the bewixt and between as immoral, dangerous, disloyal unacceptable monster. And only two choices are left for them: either assimilate or stubbornly retain yourself. Yet, there are people whose multifaceted identities and cultures cannot be pigeonholed into these dichotomies.
Thanks for your interesting post!

By: Rizwan Ahmad

Rizwan Ahmad — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 12:46:22 +0000

In reply to Ali R Fatihi.

The case of Sahil I discuss is one of those where names and the expected identities don’t match. I don’t see how minorities react to Hindu names is pertinent to the issue given the social and political power difference between Muslims and Hindus.
The Punjabi/Sikh names Such as Iqbal Singh are bivalent as you say but the last name and the visual look of the Sikhs will disambiguate.
My main concern here is the Muslims and their Urdu names; the examples you give are exceptions and actually are becoming rarer amongst the younger generations of Punjabis.
Thanks for your input Prof Ali.

By: Ali R Fatihi

Ali R Fatihi — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 08:38:39 +0000

Interesting read.
Is it the result of majoritism?. How minorities react to some Hindu names. ? Then there are names which are common to all three major communities of India.eg
Mohammad Iqbal
Iqbal singh
Iqbal chand

By: Rizwan Ahmad

Rizwan Ahmad — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 13:51:43 +0000

I couldn’t agree with you more. It oppresses women more than men. No wonder I n both public and private sectors the % of Muslim employees in general is terribly low.

By: Rizwan Ahmad

Rizwan Ahmad — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 13:29:41 +0000

In reply to David Marjanović. You are right. This makes it even more difficult to begin to end discrimination.

By: David Marjanović

David Marjanović — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 12:10:07 +0000

What makes it even more reprehensible is that Shukla argued that this was part of his freedom of expression and religion guaranteed by the constitution.

That reminds me immediately of the many fundamentalists in the US who treat their right to discriminate based on religion the same way.

By: Madiha

Madiha — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 06:53:42 +0000

Interesting read! I am wondering what would be the difference from a gendered perspective. There are a number of studies including an article published on language on the move, which talk about how visibly identifiable religious minorities, such as Muslim women easily identified by their head scarves, are denied/ discriminated to enter the workplace. In many cases these women have either adapted to the dominant culture e.g., they stopped wearing the headscarves to be part of the labour market, or otherwise they have entirely withdrawn from participating. Which also somewhat describes the high economic inactivity of these radicalised minorities living in predominantly religiously different societies.