Talk:Urdu

Edit warring

@182.190.51.133

Please avoid engaging in an edit war to push your changes. On Wikipedia, major edits should generally follow consensus. You are repeatedly re-adding your version despite requests to raise your concerns here.

Your addition of countries other than Pakistan and India in the lead is unnecessary and confusing. South Africa is already listed in the infobox as a country where Urdu is recognised as a minority language. There is no notable Urdu-speaking population in Afghanistan; only some Afghans speak Urdu due to having lived in Pakistan - yet you added it to the infobox even though it had already mentioned below in the "Demographics and geographic distribution" section.

Moreover, It is self-evident that if Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, it holds official status there; restating this is redundant. The current wording that it is the national language and lingua franca is sufficient. Please know that even your new version is not improving the article in anyway.

If you have valid objections, please present them here for discussion. This article has often faced edit warring and disputes due to users’ refusal to collaborate. Kind regards. AlidPedian (talk) 09:59, 12 October 2025 (UTC)

@نعم البدل @Abecedare @Fowler&fowler @Respectful Toad AlidPedian (talk) 10:08, 12 October 2025 (UTC)

Okay. I understand, will avoid all those things in my edit. 182.190.51.133 (talk) 10:15, 12 October 2025 (UTC)

You should avoid pushing your edits, before reaching consensus. AlidPedian (talk) 10:17, 12 October 2025 (UTC)

Azad Kashmir In Infobox

@AlidPedian The reason I added Azad Kashmir separately in the infobox is that it isn't a normal Pakistani province, but rather a self-governing and autonomous region of Pakistan, which has Urdu as its state and official language, which is why I thought it deserved special mention. Do you have any reason why it shouldn't be there? RealKnockout (talk) 16:00, 30 October 2025 (UTC)

@RealKnockout Hi. I understand your point, but the situation isn't quite parallel to India's. The Indian states are listed separately because India is officially a federal union of states.

Pakistan, however, is not a federation of "states" in the same sense. Its provinces and territories (including Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan) are administrative and constitutional units of a single sovereign country, with varying degrees of autonomy.

Azad Kashmir's special and self-governing status is certainly notable, but that alone doesn't justify listing it separately in the infobox, especially for consistency with other Pakistan-related articles. AlidPedian (talk) 16:44, 30 October 2025 (UTC)

@AlidPedian Pakistan is a federation too, this is explicitly stated in the Constitution of Pakistan in many places, and the state vs. province thing seems to just be a semantics/naming difference. RealKnockout (talk) 18:48, 30 October 2025 (UTC)

@RealKnockout I never denied that Pakistan is a federation; my argument is that it functions quite differently from a classical federation of states, such as India. The provinces in Pakistan do not enjoy the same degree of autonomy as Indian states under a more robust federal structure. In fact, Pakistan has often been described as a centralized federation, where the federal government holds significant sway over provincial matters. This contrasts with India's constitutional arrangements, where states have clearer legislative and administrative powers.

You are absolutely right that the status of Azad Jammu and Kashmir is distinct from Pakistan's four provinces (and even Gilgit Baltistan). But It's also important to note the linguistic dynamics: Urdu is the sole national language of Pakistan. In contrast, India recognizes both Hindi and English as official languages at the Union level and grants official status to 22 scheduled languages, reflecting its multilingual federal ethos. This difference further highlights how Pakistan leans toward centralized nation-building, while India accommodates a more pluralistic and decentralized linguistic policy. Therefore, the special mention of Azad Kashmir seems unnecessary to me. AlidPedian (talk) 19:33, 30 October 2025 (UTC)

Nativity of the language

Urdu language born in Delhi, UP region of northern India. It was later adopted by muslim rulers in South India and Pakistan after the independence. Since, it travelled to other regions than Delhi and UP, can it be called native to those regions? Or native to where it was originated? ▄︻テ░Blaada══━一 (talk) 13:09, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

There are numerous theories as to where the language was born, with Delhi theory being only one of them. Unexplainably the Delhi claim is not only being given WP:UNDUEWEIGHT, but also passed off as "mere fact" using very carefully selected sources (most of them politically motivated rather than genuine) while blocking out any compelling academic analysis of having originated elsewhere. There is a clear agenda behind this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2026-33440-48 (talk) 09:26, 5 June 2026 (UTC)

Urdu in digital technology and AI

The Urdu article currently lacks coverage of its status in digital technology, NLP, and AI. Given the language's scale — 70+ million native speakers — its underrepresentation in AI training data and digital tools is encyclopedically significant. I'd like to propose adding a subsection covering this, with citations from academic and tech sources. Happy to draft content for community review. ناشز (talk) 10:50, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

Urdu Native Speakers By Country

What significance does Ireland have that merits it being on the table? It doesn't appear to have an exceptional amount of native Urdu speakers. LightningThrower (talk) 22:14, 13 July 2026 (UTC)