By Modasser Iqbal Butt (Translator: Muhammed Afzal Shahid)

Date:06-03-05

Source: Daily Khabrain

Language is a means of expression. Mother tongue is an inherited language that starts at the stage of mother’s nursing. Babies hear lullabies in their own mother tongue. After growing up, it is the mother tongue which enables them to interact and socialize. Every language is unique. It is the people who may be good or bad. All languages are good. Calling any language bad is like saying ‘this wall is bad’ or ‘that tree is mean’.

Tragedy with Panjabi is that Panjabis are rejecting it. When British took over Panjab a century-and-half ago and implemented Urdu in Panjabi educational institutions, graduates from these very institutions fell victims to such an inferiority complex that they shamelessly and without any hesitation started to call their own mother tongue ‘obscene’ and ‘useless’. Some Panjabis feel proud in denigrating their own language without any sense of shame. The most recent example is the recent article published in the daily ‘Khabrain’ by Ms. Zahida Ehsan. The article is entitled ‘Panjabi: ek be-huda aur ghair-mohazzib zubaan’ (Panjabi: an obscene and uncultured Language). It is evident from the Urdu title of the article which language is really obscene and un-cultured. Civilized and cultured people do not express themselves in such a manner.

The writer in her article has presented conflicting claims and statements. She believes that Urdu is an advanced form of Panjabi (Note added by translator: Readers may recall that this concept was also expressed by Prof. Fateh Muhammad Malik in his article in daily Nawa-i-Waqt of Feb. 19, 2004 – ‘Panjab kee madree zubaan Urdu hay – Urdu is the mother tongue of Panjab). If Panjabi is obscene then its obscenity must have entered Urdu too. How can it be that after its birth from Panjabi, Urdu stayed free from ‘faults’ of Panjabi. Education in Urdu (of whom she talks highly) in schools in Panjabi villages is an ordeal that Panjab has endured for the last one-and-a-half century. It is because of this problem that the rate of literacy in Panjab instead of increasing has stayed at the same low point. Learning a foreign language for Panjabi children is so difficult that they simply leave schools and instead waste their lives tending to cattle or sheep. It is the education system that relies on a foreign language that neither rate of literacy is improving in Panjab nor progress in Pakistan.

The writer has concocted up the story about Sufi Tabassam in her article when she alleges that Panjabi lacks civilized words and expressions. The fact is that every language carries words and expressions of respect and honor. However, we wish that ‘hazoor faiz ganjoor’ (i.e., most respected treasure of mercy) be blessing to Urdu. We know that even in Arabic and English a simple ‘you is used to address someone. Since Urdu sprung in an environment full of flattery - both in prose and poem - and for two hundred years served as a tool to praise Moghul courts and its courtiers, one finds in Urdu an abundance of such words of extreme artificiality. There is no other language in the world that can match Urdu on this account.

Ignorance of the write is also evident from her statement that before ’One-Unit’, Balochi, Sindhi, Sraiki and Pushto were official languages in their respective provinces in Pakistan. This is not true. Except for Sindhi, no other language had the status of an official or educational language. Albeit, before partition Patiala was the only State in India where Panjabi was official and court language and language of instruction in educational institutions.

Another issue the writer has raised is that when Panjabi writers and critics write in Panjabi they use Urdu terminology. She completely forgot that Urdu has borrowed those terms from Arabic and Persian. If Urdu is allowed to borrow words from Arabic and Persian, why Panjabi cannot do the same? Later in her article she asks another question: ‘Is Panjabi capable of being raised to the level of official language of the Panjab? This question shows her ignorance and insensitivity. Panjabi is official language of Eastern Panjab. It is language of the court and also language for instruction in educational institutions. Panjabi is capable of handling complicated technical and legal matters. That is why they have adopted it. Panjabi is used at the MA and MSc levels and some doctoral (PhD) theses have also been written in Panjabi.

She writes: ‘In my humble opinion instead of speaking such Panjabi it would be better to speak Urdu and accept Urdu for all our social and cultural needs’. Her opinion is simply wrong and there is no reason to act on it. Nowhere in the world people give up their own mother tongue and adopt a foreign language. Even animals do not give up their language. You will not hear a dog barking a cats ‘meeyao’. Is it that Ms. Zahida Ehsan wants Panjabis degraded to levels lower than animals? We wish her happiness with her whims. As for Panjabis they should ignore her opinions.

She has also narrated an obscene joke about a newspaper of the East Panjab. This is a reflection of the mindset of Urdu-worshippers how badly they treat our mother tongue. They have not learnt that respect is gotten but is always earned. If they treat mother tongue of others negatively, how can they expect others respect their language?

That Urdu came into being in Panjab is not supported by historical facts. This ‘revelation’ was made by Hafiz Mehmud Shirani in his book at the urging of the British. For his service he was honored with a prize. Dr. Sohail Bokhari, along with many other expert linguists, has concluded this assertion to be against the known facts. They have written many books on this particular topic. These experts have shown that Urdu is another form of Hindi and that it was promoted by the British who wanted to enforce it throughout the sub-continent for protecting their colonial interests. As a result of the partition this objective could not be met. However, Urdu got thrust on us, Pakistanis.

It was Urdu that led to the breaking of Pakistan. Had Bengali been given its due language rights, Bengalis would have stayed happy and would not have reached the extreme that led to the division of country. Urdu-worshipper still have not come to their senses. They earned the same opposition in Sindh due to which Urdu has suffered badly. They have created an atmosphere of hate and are responsible for the language-related riots.

A Panjabi proverb describes the condition of Urdu best: ‘agg len aaee tay ghar dee malik bann bethee’ (she came to borrow warmth but ended up owning the house). Urdu-speakers found a ‘Dubai’ once the British took over Panjab. They flocked to Panjab in such great numbers that, according to Molana Hali, there was no teacher left to teach in UP schools. When British expelled Persian from offices and educational institutions they needed another language that could be written in the same script. And that need was fulfilled by Urdu. Urdu proved most suitable to serve colonial intentions of the British and it is doing the same even today. First it tried to enrage Bengali and split the country. Then it antagonized Sindhi, hated Pashto and now is trying to downplay legitimacy of Panjabi. It could not match the supremacy of English. But it is intent on denigrating the local languages.

As for the claim that Urdu is an advanced language, it carries no weight. It is a joke. Urdu Science Board and other similar organizations have wasted tens of millions of Rupees of the nation in creating useless scientific terms. How meaningless are the terms like ‘johar’ for ‘atom’, salema’ for ‘molecule’, ‘aapa teemardaar’ for ‘nursing sister, etc., only users of these terms can appreciate. That is why these terms have been discarded and thrown in the garbage. The nation has yet to balance this particular account. Why was the valuable money and time wasted if this was to be the outcome? Is it that only ‘Urdu intellectual leaches’ keep fattening on the national resources?

All this has led the educated class to adopt English. People have now come to realize that Urdu is merely a propaganda tool. Urdu cannot serve needs of advanced sciences nor can it handle finesse of the deep philosophy. If English can fulfill all such needs then why not adopt English? The most prominent champion of Urdu, Molana Salah-ud-Din Ahmad, of which she speaks so highly, himself realized during later part of his life that his own off-springs were not convinced of his Urdu-cause. They ventured on the path of English.

Finally it is worth thinking about the real motive behind this article. The truth is that Panjabi is successfully on the march. During the last fifty years Panjabis have been kept away from their cultural roots and heritage by a variety of excuses and made-up justifications. Now it is impossible to keep doing the same. Urdu chauvinists see their game coming to an end. They have suppressed the genuine rights of the Panjabi language for the past half a century. Now that the reaction to this long suppression has started, these Urdu chauvinists have lost their sleep. It has become abundantly clear to all that nobody can stop Panjabi from becoming an official language. Negative articles cannot hurt Panjabi anymore. Instead such articles reflect the true mindset of their writers. While complaining about others may be justified, unfortunately, here we have those hiding daggers in their cloaks that we believed were our own.