Awam ( ur, ) is the

Urdu language Urdu (;"Urdu"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ur, , link=no, ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, In ...

word for common people or general public. In the early 20th century, the word was extensively used in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

to refer to the general population. After

Partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

, the word remained in use in Pakistan, but within India, several new words derived from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

replaced it, such as Janata, Log or Lok (see:

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

), Gana or Praja. In India however, the word is used by non-Urdu Hindustani speakers, like for the

Hindustani Awam Morcha Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (translation: ''Indian People's Front''; abbreviated as HAM-S) is an Indian political party having presence in Bihar. HAM(S) got new symbol wok in Bihar Assembly Election 2020. Formation It was launched forma ...

. Awami is the adjectival form for Awam. Awam may refer to: * ''Awam'' (newspaper), an Urdu-language daily newspaper based in Karachi, Pakistan. * '' Awam-e-Hind'', an Indian Hindi newspaper in India. * ''Awam'' (film), a Hindi film released in 1987.

See also