Language conundrum

IN the wake of ban on Punjabi language in Sahiwal district, the specter of language controversy and its utility has raised its uglier head. This initiative is perverse and defies logic. Legally, this violates Article 251 which entails provision for “the teaching, promotion and use of provincial language. Similarly, this also goes against Article 28, providing for the “preservation of language, script and culture”.

“Have people anything dearer than the speech? In its speech resides its whole thought-domain, its tradition, history, religion, basis of life and all its heart and soul”, said Herder. Language is an essential concomitant of nationalism, separateness and identity. It is a fluid entity forging self-consciousness and belongingness among people.

Language is a sensitive and contentious issue everywhere. Realistically, Pakistan is a multilingual and multicultural polity, with six major and some 50 minor languages spoken across the country. According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the number of Urdu speaking people is reportedly barely 7.3 pc, compared to 44 pc Punjabi, 15 pc Pashtuns, 14 pc Sindhi, 10 pc Seraiki and 5 pc Baloch. Despite this overwhelming numerical superiority and rich cultural ethos of regional languages, the upper echelons never paid heed to this stark reality and resorted to centralised national ideology and linguistic manipulation.

Important questions do arise: do some languages tend to be good and some others bad inherently? Is language a passive, apolitical phenomenon or highly political and active reality? There is no concept of good or bad of any language, this depends on its standing in academic and political arenas. It is a cultural configuration which provides a coherent mosaic for society.

Historically, language has been a major catalyst for major socio-political movements. The infamous Hindi-Urdu conflict resulted in the two-nation theory and political polarisation of the subcontinent. The people of Bengal were divided by religion but united by the overriding sentiment of language and the Bengla Basha debate culminated in dismemberment in 1971. The language riots in 1971-72 in Sindh morphed into ethnic polarisation and racial segregation in Karachi and Hyderabad. The PPP and MQM’s simmering rivalry is an off-shot of that linguistic tussle. In the wake of 18th amendment, the provincial governments are obliged to make arrangements for promotion of regional languages. Though Sindh and KP have introduced regional languages as subjects at primary level, but the issue warrants immediate attention followed by robust reform package.

SAEED ULLAH KHAN WAZIR