The ruling came in response to a petition challenging a High Court order, filed by a former councillor who objected to the presence of Urdu on the signboard of the Patur Municipal Council office in Akola.The Court delivered a strong message on the cultural value of language, stating, “Let our concepts be clear. Language is not religion. Language does not even represent religion. Language belongs to a community, to a region, to people — and not to a religion. Language is culture. Language is the yardstick by which we measure the civilizational progress of a community and its people.”It further explained that Urdu represents a deep cultural synthesis, adding:“So is the case of Urdu, which is the finest specimen of Ganga-Jamuni tahzeeb — the composite cultural ethos of the Indo-Gangetic plains. Before language became a tool for learning, its earliest and primary purpose was, and remains, communication.”According to the HindustanTimes report, the Court also addressed the societal resistance faced by languages like Urdu, attributing it to “misconceptions and prejudice.”“Our misconceptions, perhaps even our prejudices, against a language must be courageously and truthfully tested against reality. The reality is the great diversity of our nation. Our strength can never be our weakness. Let us make friends with Urdu and with every language.”The Court also noted, “Like Marathi and Hindi, Urdu is also an Indo-Aryan language. It is a language born on this land. Urdu developed and flourished in India due to the need for people from different cultural backgrounds to communicate and share ideas with one another.”
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