Kaithi, Caste & Politics (One language, Two scripts - a book review)

[Guest guest]

> There is a review by prof. Sushil Srivastava, Allahabad university

> on the interesting book by Christopher King, One language, Two

> scripts: The Hindi movement in 19th century North India, OUP, 1994.

 

It seems that I had not given "Kaithi script" enough thought before.

 

Some people apparantly have, besides Sushil Srivastava, (a

Professor of history).

 

Let me quote.

 

Abhay Sardesai (who teaches English at a Mumbai college):

"To displace the Muslim upper class and the Kayastha service class

(who used the Persian or the Kaithi scripts) from their positions of

power, the north Indian Brahmin elite decided to promote this newly

developed Devnagari script using their version of a `purified'

Hindi, destroying in the process the wonderfully hybrid identity of

Hindustani as a composite language spoken and written across

religious communities."

http://www.humanscapeindia.net/humanscape/new/aug2002/readingbetweent

he.htm

 

Avaidaisamy Nadar "Defects of the Dev Nagari Script":

"Also, Sanskritists have obliterated several indigenous Indian

scripts like Marathi, Rasjastani (Mahajani) and Bhojpuri (Kaithi).

In the case of each of these, the forceful imposition of Devanagari

by fascist Brahminists has led to the destruction of that language's

native literature."

http://www.dalitstan.org/journal/dalitism/dal000/devnagnbi.html

 

 

Discussion "The day Hindi died" with Alok Rai who wrote "Hindi

Nationalism"

'I'm trying to counter the Babhani takeover of the Hindi belt'

.....

Rai also points out that the old name of Nagari (the script in which

Hindi is written) was in fact Babhani - the script of the Brahmans.

The initial battle for an 'Indian' script for Hindustani was between

Kaithi and Babhani. And Babhani won.

http://www.tehelka.com/channels/literary/2001/oct/17/lr101701rai1.htm

 

Incidentally, I have seen examples of "Kaithi script".

 

Yashwant