Recently, Bollywood lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar made headlines as he claimed that Urdu belongs to 'Hindustan'.
“Urdu hasn't come from any other place.it is our own language. It isn't spoken outside Hindustan.Pakistan also came into existence after partition from India, earlier it was a part of India only. So, the language isn't spoken outside Hindustan," he had said.
The battle for a 'Hindu rashtra' has to be won in the minds of the people before it can be legitimised in Parliament. This requires a three pronged strategy: enlist support for the cause; discourage any opposition; and create on-ground conditions for a majoritarian state.
An excerpt from ‘Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri: Monuments, Cities and Connected Histories’, which highlights the need to move beyond a monument-centred vision and treat heritage sites as repositories of a wider historical and cultural legacy.