Speak but Don't Write: Understanding Linguistic Exclusion in a Metropolitan City

Abstract

This paper tries to understand linguistic exclusion in a city specifically in relation to the script of the language. Premised on the incident that took place in May 2016 where a group of people forced two artists to deface an Urdu couplet they were painting on a wall in Northeast Delhi, this paper attempts at outlining the sheer importance of engaging with the ways in which the city is becoming a site of newer forms of exclusion. The case of exclusion of this sort, as the paper argues, demands more attention for city as an inclusive space. It belongs to none and therefore everyone. Given the ways in which a city is a site where different identities not only co-exist, but as is claimed, merge into one another, claiming monopoly over its walls in terms of not what is written but in what language is it written turns out uncommonly striking for anyone interested in intersections between urbanism, language and identity. It is the layers of these intersections that this paper is interested in exploring through seeking recourse to history, literature and media.