Re: “Azaan Bajj Raha Hai”
Bhutto’s Urdu is stuff of jokes on Web
Islamabad, Dec. 4: Oxford-educated Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto’s clumsy speeches in Urdu, sprinkled with English words, have become a good way to pep up party conversations here. Jokes, and even videos, are being circulated on the internet which poke fun at the former Premier’s accented and grammatically incorrect Urdu.
Many Pakistanis are angrily linking the gradual demise of their national language to the inability of leaders like her to communicate in Urdu. “Mimicking Benazir Bhutto’s Urdu is a good way to revive the party when the conversation runs dry,” Washington-based Yawar Herekar wrote in a letter to a local newspaper. “It has been over 60 years since the end of the British Raj but they left the English language behind as a curse and blessing for us. English might be the language of business, but Urdu is the language that holds our history and serves as our identity.” “As Pakistanis, we need to be proud of our mother tongue and get rid of our colonialist mindset before it destroys our culture from the insides,” he added on a more serious note.
At a joint press conference with former Premier Nawaz Sharif on Monday night, Ms Bhutto struggled to put forth her views to the media in Urdu. “Kayee demands kuboool kiye gaye hain, date of elections diya gaya hai, emergency khatm kee gayee hai…Emergency khatm karne ka date diya gaya hai… Yeh bahut significant acceptance hai,” she said. Cross-dressing TV host Ali Saleem, famous for mimicking Ms Bhutto, plays the former Premier in a video posted on Yahoo. Though Saleem’s “hum courage nahin loosenge” and “promises fullfillinge” are exaggerated examples of her Urdu.