In 1867, the British government prepared to accept the demand of the Hindu communities of the United Provinces and Bihar to change the Perso-Arabic script of the official language Urdu to Devanagari and adopt Hindi as the second official language. This gave rise to a Hindi-Urdu controversy. Who among the following was the most vocal opponent of this change?

• A. Syed Mahmood
• B. Mohsin-ul-Mulk
• C. Maulana Hali
• D. Syed Ahmed Khan

Answer: (D)

In the year 1867, the British government was going to change the Perso-Arabic script of the official language to Devanagari and adopt Hindi as the second official language on demand of Hindu activists of United Province and Bihar. Well known muslim reformer Sir Syed Ahmed Khan strongly condemned the decision.