Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to adopt Hindi as global language has found unexpected takers in Pakistan. Over recent past, the number of students opting for Hindi over Persian and Arabic has seen an increasing trend in Pakistan.
Cultural affinities, curiosity to know about what is happening across the border, Bollywood and popular Indian television soaps have attracted many in Pakistan to pick up Hindi as a paper in college. Hindi scholars in Pakistan are also of the view that an individual knowing Hindi draws more respect amongst the educated Pakistani community. For others being able to read and write in Hindi helps them to read Hindi newspapers online to develop political understanding.
Just over two weeks ago, Pakistan's National University of Modern Languages (NUML) at Islamabad awarded its first M Phil in Hindi to Shahin Zafar.
Zafar has produced her paper on the status of women in Hindi literature post-independence as 'Swatantryottra Hindi Upanyoson Mein Nari Chittran (1947-2000).'
Professor Ashiq Ali of Aligarh Muslim University who has evaluated her paper said, "Zafar's work was good. But her research also reflected a lack of availability of Hindi books in Pakistan."
The professor also added that a similar research in India would have provided the researcher with more reference material. "It appears there aren't many Hindi texts available in Pakistan," he says.
Aligarh Muslim University receives thesis of other languages from Pakistan, but it is the first time that a Hindi paper had come for evaluation.
Professor Shabnam Riaz of Department of Hindi at University of Punjab at Lahore agrees with Professor Ali. "The number of books available are limited, but there is an upward trend on the number of students keen on pursuing Hindi as a subject," she said. Every year at the University of Punjab at least 5 to 7 students take admission for Diploma in Hindi programme.
Riaz, however, added that Pakistan lacks trained professionals to teach Hindi as a result the language does not get adequately promoted there.
In the Centre for South Asian Studies at Lahore, Hindi has now become a mandatory paper for those doing their M Phil in regional languages.
"When I passed out in 2011, from the Centre for South Asian Studies, we could choose between Persian, Arabic and Hindi. Now, Hindi has become a mandatory subject," said Amir Illyas a Pakistan-based media professional.
Illyas also added that Hindi has a direct connect with the roots of Pakistan over Persian. "We speak Hindi here and are certainly more close to the language. People really take interest when you tell them that you can write in Hindi. They will come to you and ask you to write their names in Hindi," he added.
Pakistan's first national anthem which MA Jinnah had approved of was in Hindustani (Urdu) language. But soon after his death, to disassociate itself from India, the Hindi anthem was replaced by a new one in Persian in 1948. The government of Pakistan had then argued that Hindi was a foreign language and Persian came naturally to Urdu.
But with deep cultural bonds with India and curiosity to acquire knowledge of regional language for establishing better communication continues to drive many in Pakistan to study Hindi. "My grandfather had migrated from Jammu after partition. He knew to read and write in Hindi. My first Hindi lesson was at home," said Ajmal Jami who now lives in Lahore. Jami is a journalist with Duniya News. He further added that being able to read and write in Hindi, he can read Indian newspapers to get a sense on what the Indian media is thinking. "I get to read the web editions of several Hindi papers. It gives me a better sense of socio political scenario in India," he added.
