In Jammu and Kashmir, politicians have learnt to do one thing very quickly over the last few years: dip into the languages of other regions in the state.

Generally legislators from the Kashmir province speak in Urdu, while Jammu-based legislators stick to Hindi. A few MLAs from the Rajouri-Poonch-Doda areas, which have a Muslim majority, also speak Urdu and occasionally sprinkle their pronouncements with a few Pahari words. But with the passage of time something very interesting is happening in terms of language.

I have been covering the legislative assembly sessions in a strife-torn state for the last six years. I have discovered that of late MLAs from Kashmir have begun to use many words of Hindi when they speak in the House. As if on cue, the Hindi-speaking MLAs from Jammu are now increasingly using Urdu words.

This may be a small change, but one with tremendous significance since this is a state that has been sharply polarised along ethnic and religious lines. It also shows how languages have taken each other’s hue in this great melting pot of cultures.

Many of the legislators from Kashmir, who earlier used the term ‘House’ or ‘assembly’ for the state legislature, now use ‘sadan’. ‘Thanks’ is another word which Jammu MLAs use for ‘shukriya’, while many Kashmir MLAs say ‘dhanyavad’. Jammu-based NC MLA, Ajay Sadhotra, is fond of using ‘Jenab-e-sadar’ for the Speaker. National Conference’s firebrand MLA, Ali Mohammad Sagar, uses the Hindi word ‘spashtikaran’ for clarification, while the Panthers Party MLA, Harsh Dev Singh, who is from the Dogri- and Hindi-speaking belt, uses ‘guzarish’ for request.

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