Urdu, the national Language, regarded as a foreign language of Pakistan?

Urdu was made the National language of Pakistan immediately after its formation. It was made the primary lingua franca as it connected the various provinces of Pakistan in terms of communication. Yet, till date, despite enjoying the status of national language, many in the country regard it as a “foreign language’’ because it is not seen in tandem with the idea of Muslim nationhood.

Urdu was rejected as national language by the Bengalis (now the Bangladeshi’s) during the 1940s; similarly it was rejected by various other ethnic groups of Pakistan who have their own languages, like Punjabis, Sindhis, Pashtus, and Balochis. The main reason for it’s outright rejection for keeping it as a national language was because it was regarded as a language spoken by Muslims of North western India, pre- independence. It has been said that the Urdu language was formed from the combination of Persian and the Khari boli language (local dialect of north-western Indians). The fact that Urdu language is rooted in the Indian soil and served as a common heritage for Hindus and Muslims, pre- independence, regarding it as a national language, as a identity marker for the Muslim nationhood, was an idea not properly digested by the Pakistanis.

The speakers of Urdu language in Pakistan were migrants from Central India who came to Pakistan for religious reasons. Though the Quran is in Arabic language, there were hardly any people who were fluent in Arabic, which is why, it didn’t get the status of national language, and the rest of the population spoke in other local languages. The Muslim League headed by Jinnah, who had played the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan, was heavily dominated by Muslims who belonged from Central India and were hence Urdu speaking, which is what one of the reason is being told for Pakistan having adopted Urdu as its national language. One of the other reason for recognizing Urdu as a national language was because of the fact that since Pakistan has many languages, different for different provinces, declaring any one of them as national would lead to intra provincial conflicts.

The problem is that the national language is not spoken by more than 10-12% of the population. The religious language of the Pakistan is Arabic, which no body bothers to learn. The primary languages of the rest of the Pakistan have lost its meaning due to lack of provincial autonomy , the education on the primary language is meaningless, if they want to progress, they are suppose to learn Urdu, which half the population cannot speak, and speak and write English if they want to go abroad.

All in all, it is disturbing to know the fact that any language is adopted as a national language which is not representative of the country’s regional and cultural identities. It totally seems unfair, to regard the language of “Muhajirs” (Muslim refugees that fled from genocide from different parts of India during the Partition of 1947), Urdu, only as to promote the national unity of the country based on the idea of “Islamic Nationhood”. The main aim for adopting Urdu was promoting national integration and thereby strengthening ethnicity but at the same time, it threatens the cultural and linguistic diversity in the country.