Pakistani languages : Sindh Assembly takes the lead

Mushtaq Soofi

Our linguistic diversity has been an intellectual and political conundrum for the state and the ruling segment of society for too long. Instead of logical reasoning and recognition of ground realities, ill-driven ideological imperative has continually confounded the national thinking on the issue in question with dire consequences for the political unity, educational reforms and cultural development.

The alienation of erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, triggered the Bengali separatist movement when its language was denied its legitimate status in the political euphoria that accompanied the Partition of India that created a new homeland for Indian Muslims where their economic, religious and cultural rights were supposed to be protected and promoted.

In the pre-partition era the core of separate Muslim identity emphasised the collective experience of Muslims in India that marked them as a distinct community entitling it to demand a separate territory for its future interests which, it felt, were threatened by Hindu majority in terms of demographic equation.

This faith/ideology-based strategy proved to be formidable political tool which on the one hand brought Muslims to a common platform and on the other compelled the majority to concede the formation of a new state if it were to rid itself of riot-torn future. But the moment the strategy achieved what it intended to i.e., the creation of a new state, it lost its effective edge.

It was no longer a question of ‘us’ versus ‘them’. We got rid of ‘them’ and they got rid of ‘us’. The historical fact due to a host of reasons was denied and ignored that ‘we’ despite having a common faith were not a monolithic whole. Muslims of the areas that voted for Pakistan were one vis-a-vis non-Muslims.

Once they became the masters of their destiny, their historically shaped cultural and linguistic identities started asserting for space in the new power structure which was natural. What is most distinct about a region or a community is its language. Language played significant role in uniting Muslims in their struggle to have a separate homeland. But after the emergence of Pakistan, the issue of language became a divisive force when Urdu was employed to forge a linguistic unity in denial of the fact that Pakistan was home to rich linguistic diversity.

History is witness to the phenomenon, paradoxical in its nature, that an area having multiple languages can constitute a single nation-state while another with a single language can give birth to a number of nation-states. India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Switzerland are an example of the former and the Middle East of the latter. Unfortunately, such a simple fact took decades to sink into Pakistan’s political psyche and consequently exacted a heavy price.

But slowly and gradually things are changing and changing for good. Some segments of our political class are showing signs of intellectual maturity in addressing the much muddled language issue, both at provincial and national level. The Sindh Assembly not unexpectedly took the lead in passing a resolution that recommended to parliament that the four major languages of the provinces -- Baluchi, Sindhi, Punjabi and Pushto -- be declared the national languages of Pakistan. Lo and behold! It was a unanimous resolution. The act once again proved that Sindhi leaders are at peace with the soil and culturally mature.

Urdu-speaking members of the Sindh Assembly deserve special appreciation who by supporting the cause of Pakistani languages expressed their solidarity with the people whose languages have been denied their legitimate rights. Their support for Pakistani languages to gain their rightful place in the cultural scheme of things will ensure a better future for Urdu, their mother tongue, by creating frictionless interaction between different languages of the country.

The standing committee of the National Assembly for information and national heritage headed by Ms Marvi Memon, an educated and enlightened politician, has been deliberating over the language issue. Some of the members of the committee may not have good knowledge of complex linguistic landscape. So the committee wisely sought input from the linguists, writers, social scientists, educationists and human rights activists who, it thought, were familiar with the ground realities.

The Standing Committee also recommended to the federal government that the ‘regional languages’ of the country be given the status of national languages through a legislative act of parliament.

Declaring four major Pakistani languages the national languages will pose no threat to Urdu which functions as the ‘lingua franca’. The use of the Pakistani languages will make the learning less cumbersome for millions of children and will boost the literacy rate across the country. The notion that certain languages are superior to others is the reflex of bigoted judgment which is neither intellectually justifiable nor politically tenable.

Every language is capable of expressing what is simple as well as complex. “How complex or simple a structure is depends upon the way in which we describe it,” says Herbert Simon (The Sciences of the Artificial).

Promoting the Pakistani languages will bring to fore the Pakistani worldview: diverse and multidimensional. “We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native language. Language is not simply a reporting device for experience but a defining framework for it,” writes Benjamin Lee Whorf. — soofi01@hotmail.com