The Jammu and Kashmir government encountered scathing criticism from the people, and Kashmir-based opposition parties, for proposing to drop Urdu from the newly amended draft recruitment rules for revenue posts. Pertinent to mention Urdu is one of the official languages of J&K, mandatory for qualifying for revenue services. On April 10, the Revenue Department issued the draft Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Service Recruitment Rules for non-gazetted posts, inviting objections within 15 days.

The proposed amendments remove the earlier requirement of knowing Urdu for posts such as Naib Tehsildar, Girdawar and Patwari—positions that are central to maintaining land and revenue records. The move comes against the backdrop of a legal challenge and subsequent order by the Central Administrative Tribunal in July 2025, which stayed provisions of the 2009 rules mandating graduation with knowledge of Urdu. As per the fresh draft, the minimum qualification has been reduced to a graduation degree from a recognised university, without any Urdu language requirement. Before I focus on the pros and cons of the issue, I would like to inform readers briefly about the history and evolution of Urdu language in the India. Before the arrival of Muslims in the subcontinent, various local languages and dialects were prevalent here, such as........

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