NA bill proposes eight `national languages`

[Med911]

Re: NA bill proposes eight national languages

@khoji

It is the result of hatred that has propagated in Pakistan against Urdu speakers. But I see nothing wrong with this bill. This bill will pass, if not today then tomorrow.

In fact it would be even better if prime-time programs in Pakistan are presented only in the local language of the each region instead of just Urdu. Education should also be imparted in the first language and English only.

What I dislike about the bill is asking to make Arabic a compulsory subject and Persian an optional subject. This will defeat the purpose of promotion of regional languages at the expense of Urdu.
Arabic is the worst choice to be made the lingua-franca of Pakistan. Because our culture is in no way Arabic. Even though I understand that speaking Arabic is the dream-come-true of the supporters of Saudi kharijis in Pakistan.
For people who want to make Arabic the compulsory language, so as to make it Pakistan’s lingua france, I would ask have people started speaking ENGLISH after making it a compulsory subject?

If Urdu is to be replaced as the lingua-franca in Pakistan then the best choice is English. The other choice, if any, would be Persian. It is because we have our cultural, linguistic, and historic ties with Persian speaking people in Afghanistan, Iran, and Tajikistan. Even the Arabic words we used so much in, ummm Urdu (I just made some people cringe), actually came through Persian.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/01/26/na-bill-proposes-eight-national-languages.html

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will have up to eight national languages — not just Urdu — if a private bill introduced in the National Assembly on Tuesday without any government objection is passed by parliament as a constitutional amendment.

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What is called the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2011 — a nomenclature that could be changed by the house standing committee on law and justice during its scrutiny — seeks to replace the Article 251 of the constitution that specifies only Urdu as the national language with a new one that says: “The national languages of Pakistan are Balochi, Punjabi, Pushto, Shina/Balti, Sindhi, Saraiki and Urdu.”

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Another addition to the article requires the federal government to establish a fund for the development and promotion of national languages “as well as to ensure teaching of Arabic as a compulsory subject at school level” for what an accompanying statement called a better understanding of Islam by the country`s population and Persian as an optional subject “so that regionally we remain connected to our age-old literary traditions of Persian”.

About F’ing time.. If they had done this sooner, perhaps we wouldnt have had the anti Urdu issues arrising in the former East Pak.