‘Hindi–Hindu’ discourse in late colonial Punjab

One of the major spheres in which the communal divide in India especially in the north has manifested itself is that of language, around the controversy over Hindi and Urdu. It raged in colonial Punjab as well, despite the fact that neither language was spoken over the larger part of it. In a sense, therefore, it was imported from the then North-Western Provinces (now UP), where the original dialect had given rise to a common language (Khari Boli, Hindustani) with two scripts, around which Hindi and Urdu came to be created as literary languages. Though Urdu remained in colonial times the main print and school language in pre-1947 Punjab, the language controversy continued to play a communally divisive role. In Punjab, the Arya Samaj was the main torchbearer for Hindi, with even nationalists like Lala Lajpat Rai in its camp.