Hinduization of Kashmir and our Responsibilities
Syed Fakhar Geelani
Post-August 5, 2019, the changes in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir have been as swift as they have been unsettling. Among them is the decision by the JKSCERT to mandate the teaching of Hindi from class 1 to class 10 in all schools. At first glance, this might seem like an innocuous step in promoting linguistic diversity. But beneath the surface, one can see the nefarious design of the occupying Indian state to uproot a community’s identity, starting with the most vital thread of all—its mother tongue.
A mother tongue, apart from being a means of communication, is also the soul of a culture. It carries the collective memory of a people, their stories, their prayers and their songs. Kashmiri, with its poetic cadence and rich literary heritage, has been the vessel of the region’s identity for centuries. To erase it would be to sever the lifeline between generations and turn what was once a vibrant culture into a relic of the past. Colonizers throughout history have understood this power. In Algeria, the French enforced their language to eradicate native identity. In every instance, language was the first battlefield, for it is through language that people think, dream, and resist. For Kashmiris, losing Kashmiri means losing the ability to speak to their own history.
As I already mentioned that the imposition of Hindi in Kashmir is not a standalone event. It is part of a broader design to paint Kashmir as “just another Indian state.” Signboards across the valley now prominently display Hindi. Government offices and public spaces increasingly use the language thereby erasing Urdu—the historical lingua franca of Kashmir—from public memory. Even religious sermons in some circles have started adopting Hindi phrases and have now normalized its presence in the most intimate spaces of Kashmiri life. What makes this linguistic colonization particularly insidious is its subtlety. It does not come with the violence of gunfire or the sound of breaking doors. It comes through textbooks, public signboards, and the coercion of cultural conformity. It creeps into classrooms, where young children are told to embrace a language that has little to do with their heritage. It seeps into the subconscious whilst presenting itself as modernity, as opportunity, until one day, a generation awakens who are unable to speak to its ancestors.
Colonial powers have always understood the role of language in consolidating control. When you erase a people’s language, you erase their ability to articulate dissent. You cut them off from their history and make them more susceptible to narratives imposed by the colonizer. In Kashmir, this process has been methodical. Now, the imposition of Hindi seeks to homogenize Kashmiris into a broader Indian identity. It is perhaps the most horrific attack on memory, identity and resistance itself.
If this trend continues, the cost will be devastating. Kashmiri children will grow up disconnected from their cultural roots. The stories of resilience and beauty that have defined the valley will fade into oblivion and get replaced by narratives that serve the interests of the occupier. The spiritual and artistic richness of Kashmiri culture, rooted in its language, will become an artifact in museums rather than a living, breathing part of everyday life.
Losing a mother tongue is, beyond any doubt, a form of cultural genocide where a nation is stripped of the tools they need to resist, to remember, and to imagine a future on their own terms. Kashmiri parents must insist on teaching their children the language of their ancestors. Writers, poets, and artists must use Kashmiri as a medium to tell the stories of their land. Communities must resist the normalization of Hindi in public and private spaces. The cheap and fake local cricket commentators who have normalized this in a disgusting manner must be discouraged.
