Urdu,Hindi,and Sanskrit

[Stephen Hodge]

Aditya, the Cheerful Hindu Skeptic wrote:

> It is to the credit of Kamal Pasha who realized the failings of
Arabic
> script and changed the script for Turkish

While it is true that Arabic script is particularly unsuited for
writing Turkish and a move to the use of a Roman script undoubtedly
helped improve literacy rates dramatically, one must realize that
Ataturk had other agendas at the same time arising from his
totalitarian programme of secularization.

By virtually outlawing the use of Arabic script he was also able to
ensure access to older religious -- especially Sufi -- literature
became much more difficult and thus was able restrict the transmission
of most religious teaching.  This is corroborated by the fact that he
also made all Sufi meeting places, the use of religious titles like
Sheikh, the "sema" ritual of the Mevlevis ete etc illegal.  His covert
aim can be seen as little less that the outright elimination of Islam
from most areas of life.  It is only in reecent years that Sufi
literature has begun to be easily available in romanized Turkish.

A similar idea seems to lie in part behind the Communist Chinese
simplification of the Chinese script, the reduction of current
characters and the several attempts to replace the traditional script
with Pin-yin romanization.  If people cannot read their classics, then
their minds will not be "polluted" by the ideas contained therein.

Imagine what the level of religious understanding and knoweldge would
be in India now of all the religious and philosophical classics if the
British, for example, had outlawed devanagari and other traditional
scripts in  favour of total romanization !

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge