BJP celebrates CAT order on Urdu clause for Naib-Tehsildar posts in J&K

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday (July 15, 2025) held celebrations in Jammu and Kashmir over the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) decision to drop Urdu as a mandatory qualification for candidates applying to Naib-Tehsildar posts in the Union Territory.

A bench of the CAT’s Jammu Bench, comprising Rajinder Dogra and Ram Mohan Johri, on Monday stayed the operation of provisions in the Jammu and Kashmir Revenue (Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules of 2009, which stipulated graduation with knowledge of Urdu as a minimum qualification for the post.

The tribunal directed the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) to accept applications from candidates with knowledge of any of the five official languages listed in Jammu and Kashmir. Following the order, the JKSSB on Tuesday deferred the process of inviting applications for the posts.

Under the Official Languages Act, 2020, enacted during Central rule, Hindi, Kashmiri, English, Dogri, and Urdu were declared as official languages in Jammu and Kashmir. Prior to the reorganisation of the former State in 2019, Urdu was the sole official language.

Celebrations were held at Srinagar’s Ghanta Ghar by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, where its president Arun Prabhat welcomed the tribunal’s order. He said the government’s earlier notification to continue with Urdu as a mandatory subject was discriminatory.

“The notice was anti-Constitution. Our Constitution preamble with Article 14 and 16 are for equal opportunity for all and against any discrimination on the basis of colour, creed or caste. The J&K government notice was discriminatory to four out of five languages declared as official languages here,” Mr. Prabhat said.

Reacting to the development, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader and legislator Waheed Ur Rehman Para accused the BJP of politicising the Urdu language and “injecting communal overtones into the discourse around Jammu and Kashmir’s linguistic heritage”.

“BJP’s attempt to view Urdu through a communal lens marks a dangerous and disgraceful new low in our political discourse in J&K. Urdu is not a symbol of any religion but the throbbing pulse of Jammu & Kashmir’s identity, echoing collective memories and soulful struggles of our people over centuries,” Mr. Para said in a post on social media platform X.

He said that Urdu is the language of poets, courts, revenue offices, administration, and everyday life in Jammu and Kashmir. “Even more disturbing is the CAT’s order staying the requirement of basic Urdu knowledge for the Naib Tehsildar exam — a signal that judicial forums too are beginning to cave under political pressure,” he added.

The PDP, Mr. Para said, stood for the preservation of the region’s linguistic and cultural identity. “Urdu must be preserved, not just as a language, but as an embodiment of our shared heritage, administrative continuity & cultural essence that binds every region of J&K together.”