Mehbooba, Lone oppose Urdu’s exclusion as mandatory subject for Naib-Tehsildar posts in J&K

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti and J&K Peoples Conference (JKPC) chief Sajad Lone on Wednesday (July 16, 2025) opposed the move to drop Urdu as a mandatory subject for Naib-Tehsildar posts in Jammu and Kashmir.

“It is deeply unfortunate that our judiciary appears to be influenced by divisive politics. Urdu, a recognised official language for decades, is now being unfairly communalised,” former J&K Chief Minister Ms. Mufti said in a post on social media platform X.

J&K’s revenue records and administrative work continued to be maintained in Urdu, she said. “It is only logical that applicants for the post of Naib Tehsildar possess basic proficiency in the language. This requirement is rooted purely in administrative efficiency not in any form of divisiveness,” Ms. Mufti said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been protesting against the government notification issued in June to fill these posts. A Central Administrative Tribunal Bench, comprising Rajinder Dogra and Ram Mohan Johri, on Monday passed an order to stay the operation of the provisions of the J&K Revenue (Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules of 2009, making knowledge of Urdu as the minimum qualification. It directed the J&K Services Selection Board to accept applications from all candidates who possess an undergraduate degree with knowledge of any of the five official languages in J&K.

“The exclusion of Urdu as a qualifying requirement is part of a systematic marginalisation of the Kashmiri-speaking majority, and a dangerous step towards the ‘linguicide’ of Urdu,” Mr. Lone said.

With Urdu no longer needed to qualify for the post of Naib Tehsildar, “The majority Kashmiri-speaking population has been almost relegated to a footnote in the recruitment lists. Their presence in the recruitment lists is inversely proportional to their numbers. That is of course due to reservations,” Mr. Lone said.

He said that Urdu had historically given Kashmiri aspirants a reasonable edge in such posts because of the language’s relevance in administrative affairs. “It is a calculated move to erase regional linguistic roots. The onus of giving a good legal representation is on the incumbent elected government. Hope it is not yet another fixed match in a series of fixed matches that we are seeing lately,” Mr. Lone said.