By Saeed Ahmed

February 22, 2016

Punjabi, the language of the majority province, is dying rapidly but neither the government nor the Punjabis themselves are bothered.

Punjabi families are willingly giving up the language of their forefathers. They feel proud to speak Urdu with their children as the education system prevalent in Punjab promotes only Urdu and completely ignores Punjabi.

We are not against the learning of other languages but Punjabi should be the first priority for the People of the Punjab. Learning Urdu and English can be additional feathers in their caps.

Urdu whose role is like a link language is already being promoted well by Indian movies and Indian TV Channels as well as by our TV Channels.

Mother language is an important cultural tool to humanize the child. Punjabi is the language of variety and cultural depth. To keep our children away from our long cultural and social history means to disobey the law of nature.

Unfortunately we, Muslim Punjabis, are not conscious about our mother tongue. Exploiters also wish to see the Punjabis a dumb and numb nation so that these uprooted group of people could be easily abused in the name of religion and ethnicity.
It is a big joke that we are celebrating Mother Language day and at the same time we are killing Punjabi, the great language of the Indus valley, in which we have rich Sufi and Folk heritage. Such cultural heritage which can enlighten the souls of the people of the Punjab and they can feel the same sort of respect as all the nations on the earth are having. Speaking the language of others means worst sort of slavery.

People of the Punjab must be given their basic human right to use their own language in their day to day life, in schools and offices. Otherwise, be ready for the worst future of 60% population of this country. Government of Pakistan should take some actions immediately to promote Punjabi.

(The author is an active member of Pakistan Punjabi Adbi Board)

Prof. Saeed Ahmad Talking About Importance of Punjabi Language