Urdu Language Destroying Pakistan!

[Spock]

@thejoke

I think what Spock wants is that president Zardari addresses the Punjabi audience in Sindhi.
I thin what Spock wants is that Nawaz Sharif addresses his pashtun audience in English.

To understand Spocks point of view just take a trip to the Pak Affairs section and he has a severe disdain for the MQM and I think its affecting his opinion of Urdu.

Urdu is no longer just spoken by those we term Muhajir from India. There is a signifcant amount of city punjabis who only use urdu at home and their kids have no knowledge of Punjabi. There are quite a few Pashtun and Sindhi households who have adopted Urdu as the language they use at home.

It is Urdu that is the BRIDGE between diffeerent cultures and languages. Spock please do travel by bus more from Punjab to SDindh then to Mekran - whilst travelling only speak to those next to you in Punjabi. Do not use any other language. Im guessing you cant have many friends from different cultures or do you adress them in YOUR language.

Spock the biggest problems Pakistan faces to day is all provincial and most of that because Punjab gets the lion shares. Very few Baloch areas get gas. The electricity generated from Terbela is used more by Punjab. Karachi makes so much money yet see little of it spent back on it. You have come across all these arguments before.

I am not from an urdu speaking background yet that has made me appreciate more that I learnt urdu and it has enabled me to communicate BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE with so many more Pakistanis. had they known english i would not have bothered. However, itwas for more benficial for me to learn urdu. My urdu is far from perfect but i could communicate effiectively in Turbat, Gwadar, Quetta, Karachi, Thatta, Bahawalpur, Multan, Lahore, D G Khan, Mianwali, Peshawar, Muzafarabad, Muree, Abottabad, Gilgit, Hunza, Chitral…

Less than 15% may speak it at home but more than 95% can communicate in it.

With the same logic, maybe you are blaming Punjab for everything is because you are a closet MQM supporter. Sorry but MQM has nothing to do with Urdu. So lets leave the MQM at that. Also, I hope you know that my native language is Urdu, but I dont stick to the ‘oh just because its my native language i have to support it’ like a yes man. As for your claims about Punjab getting the lion’s share, you are forgetting that its Punjab who feeds the country too. Sorry but that has nothing to do with the imposition of urdu as national language. Lets leave all that out of this thread and not go off topic.

Zardari can address Pakistan in Urdu, no problems with that, however having provincial languages as official language means that the Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, NWFP assemblies work in their own languages and carry out their agenda in their own languages, and the Federal Govt can work in Urdu and English (their choice, Mushy liked English, some like Urdu). I hope you get it now, because even a 2nd grader would be able to understand this.

Also, your claim of 95% of Paksitanis speaking Urdu is absurd, though I see some improvement, last time you were saying 100% Furthermore, an average joe does not go galloping around Pakistan so that should be the least of the concern. If provincial languages are made official languages, Mr. Galloping Tourist can still use Urdu to communicate with these people, as like I said before Urdu should stay as one of these languages. The average joe mostly stays in his own province, wants to speak his own language, wants his countrymen to respect his desire to follow his own culture and traditions.

[Mostar95]

Re: Urdu Language Destroying Pakistan!

By the way MQM is the enemy number 1 of Urdu who failed to name itself properly in Urdu.

[Spock]

@abdelyuuki

**I think they should enforce the speaking of the Urdu language. Pakistan should be made into a police state, with a SS type secret police which infiltrates into every Pakistani home and enforces the law. Those caught speaking native languages be thrown into work camps and worked day and night, building roads, doing other hard labour jobs etc, without pay ofcourse. Any rebelions be crushed brutally to get the point of a zero-tolerance policy across, parade fake images and videos of ‘everything is good and all human rights laws being honoured’ in the media.

That would like be totally awesome.

Urdu ftw!** !

I see thanks for putting up your true sentiments… you already tried that with East Pakistan, and you had Pakistan chopped into two pieces. Keep doing it, and it will be chopped into 4-5 more pieces, and then you can have one little city where people would speak Urdu. Also, whose going to crush these rebellions, the Punjab/Pakhtun dominated Pak Army?

[X2]

Re: Urdu Language Destroying Pakistan!

hey man we have a democracy now. tell your representatives to raise the issue in the national assembly and make teh change, i got no issues with having many national languages.

although I must say, there are plenty of other things destroying Pakistan more, but we dont see 5 page long threads on those :)

[Lois_Lane]

Re: Urdu Language Destroying Pakistan!

why can't we promote all main 4 languages of Pakistan from all 4 Provinces?

[abdelyuuki]

@Spock

I see thanks for putting up your true sentiments… you already tried that with East Pakistan, and you had Pakistan chopped into two pieces. Keep doing it, and it will be chopped into 4-5 more pieces, and then you can have one little city where people would speak Urdu. Also, whose going to crush these rebellions, the Punjab/Pakhtun dominated Pak Army?

lol, those aren’t my ‘true sentiments’. I’m not even a Pakistani, so I couldn’t really careless. I didn’t try or do anything in regards to East Pakistan either. I was just posting nonsense cos I was bored.

However, why doesn’t Pakistan just do what India has done? All indigenous languages be given official ‘state’ status, local authorities use the local native languages within their jurisdictions, but use a ‘union’ official language (English/Hindi as is the case in India) when communicating with the central government? seems to work fine for India. (I think that’s how they work, not sure, don’t see anyone complaining about languages though like they do in Pakistan :P)

[sogul]

Also, those saying people who speak their own languages (other than Urdu) aren't patriots, or enemies of the country... Real patriotism takes guts - the guts to appreciate and give rights to a language that you might not speak, but some of your fellow countrymen might speak in another part of the country. That is what binds us together, i.e. the appreciation and standing up for their rights, not the ability to speak that language.

I soo much agree! Every one has the right to speak and know their mother tongue. I can't stand the idea that a single language has to be imposed on you. Seriously your language is a part of your identity and heritage..it's the entity that makes you whole in my opinion. You don't know your culture till you know your language. How on earth are you then going to fight for a united Pakistan if you don't even understand your background?

I think that people should be aware of the various languages that exist in Pakistan instead of looking down upon those who don't speak English or Urdu...Isn't it time to broaden your horizons and acknowledge that Pakistan consists of so many ethnic groups? Why don't people take interest in their couuntry? Seriously, 90% of the Pakistanis I have communicated with (in the West) don't even know where Balochistan is. They can't even grip that my language is different from Urdu..just an example.

I know that my comments may upset the nationalist on the forum but hey everyone is entitled to have an opinion. If I have hurt your feelings . ...humay maaf karey as they say in Urdu :-)

[sogul]

I dont think many people except ethnic Nationalists think that Urdu is a negative thing. Ethnic nationalists would rather see english as a national language - why should we have english? At least urdu is native to south asia. If there was no urdu the illiterate man of Pakistan would find it very hard to communicate his pashtu, punjabi, seraiki, sindhi, baloch, brahui, kho, burushashki, kohistani, kashmiri, shina, gujari, wakhi. The illiterate people would never be able to learn English.

What else could be the national language of pakistan? Persian, Arabic? Persian would have been perfect as so much of south asian muslim historry rests upon persian - one of the major influences on Urdu.

the 2 most commonly spoken languages are Punjabi and Seraiki - if they were forced to be the national language of Pakistan even more would complain.

Urdu is a good national language because of its neutrality within Pakistan pre-1947 - it was nt spoken by any of the sons of the soil ethhnic groups so at least there was no favouritism there. Also it had developed a role after persian as a language Indian muslims could identify with. Urdu is very similar to Hindi so in a way it became a strong regional language and today it is understood from Afghanistan east to Bangaldesh.

I find urdu as an extremely excellent language for cross cultural communication within pakistan. regardless of people complaining about it being imposed i am pretty much sure those same very people take advantage of the benefits of urdu.

Pakistan would be hell if each and every person demanded you spoke their mother tongue with them.

I think it is a perfect thing that the provinces have urdu imposed upon them.

Look at Balochistan - the 3 languages which have the highest numbers of speakers are Balochi, Brahui and pashtu. In Quetta all 3 groups use urdu as a language to communicate with each other. ** **Imagine if Balochi was imposed on Balochistan - its not even spoken by 40% of the population. the Brahui and Pashtuns wont be happy at all. On top of that a considerable amount in balochistan speak punjabi, persian, Mekrani, Seraiki/khetrani....

Look at NWFP.......70-80% speaks pashtu but still a good number speak hindko, chitral speaks kho, seraiki is spoken in eastern d i khan...... which language do you impose there? if there was no urdu then many would be forced to learn pashtu

in punjab...punjabi, seraiki, potohar are spoken......which language would you impose there? almost half of punjab may even speak seraiki..if not more....

in sindh...sindhi and urdu are both spoken....sindhi is spoken more widely......other languages spoken include balochi, thari, kachi, and with recent immigration punjabi and pashtu......fair enough sindhi nationalists claim that sindhiis the historical language of sindh but demographics change and one should look at present day situations......

i do believe that mother tongues should be taught in schools theres nothing wrong with that but we cant have regional parilaments where people are not understanding each other.

Punjabis and pashtns are mobile people and you get them everywhere in pakistan migrating looking for work....they benefit from urdu a lot......

Urdu makes pakistan a lot easier for us....we dont need to be like india where english a distant language is used for communication when we have a local desi substitute....

i found urdu very useful travelling around different areas within pakistan......if people dont want to use urdu or dislike it....then dont use it full stop.,..it wil only harm you thogh

I would say that Quetta is different..It's as if every one understands each other. You can talk brahui/balochi to a pashtun and he will understand it. He will perhaps reply in Pashto and that's also understood vice versa. There are many languages and dialects in Quetta and people have neighbours who are of different language...as times goes by the languages are picked up. I've also seen it from my Punjabi friends in Quetta who are fluent in Brahui and Pashto as I understand them when speaking in Punjabi

[Himalaya]

There are plenty of people who only speak their mother tongue and Urdu in Quetta. The biggest threat for the Baloch community is their people learning Pashtu and it becoming more widely used. Im pretty much sure a number of pashtuns, Brahuis, Baloch understand one another but they always prefer to use Urdu with one another.

Quetta is mostly pashtun and then theres large numbers of baloch, Brahui, Persian speakers and 100,00 Punjabis.

By Spocks definition Balochi should be imposed.

@sogul

I would say that Quetta is different..It's as if every one understands each other. You can talk brahui/balochi to a pashtun and he will understand it. He will perhaps reply in Pashto and that's also understood vice versa. There are many languages and dialects in Quetta and people have neighbours who are of different language...as times goes by the languages are picked up. I've also seen it from my Punjabi friends in Quetta who are fluent in Brahui and Pashto as I understand them when speaking in Punjabi

[Spock]

@Lois_Lane

why can't we promote all main 4 languages of Pakistan from all 4 Provinces?

@abdelyuuki

lol, those aren't my 'true sentiments'. I'm not even a Pakistani, so I couldn't really careless. I didn't try or do anything in regards to East Pakistan either. I was just posting nonsense cos I was bored. :D

However, why doesn't Pakistan just do what India has done? All indigenous languages be given official 'state' status, local authorities use the local native languages within their jurisdictions, but use a 'union' official language (English/Hindi as is the case in India) when communicating with the central government? seems to work fine for India. (I think that's how they work, not sure, don't see anyone complaining about languages though like they do in Pakistan :P)

@sogul

I soo much agree! Every one has the right to speak and know their mother tongue. I can't stand the idea that a single language has to be imposed on you. Seriously your language is a part of your identity and heritage..it's the entity that makes you whole in my opinion. You don't know your culture till you know your language. How on earth are you then going to fight for a united Pakistan if you don't even understand your background?

I think that people should be aware of the various languages that exist in Pakistan instead of looking down upon those who don't speak English or Urdu...Isn't it time to broaden your horizons and acknowledge that Pakistan consists of so many ethnic groups? Why don't people take interest in their couuntry? Seriously, 90% of the Pakistanis I have communicated with (in the West) don't even know where Balochistan is. They can't even grip that my language is different from Urdu..just an example.

I know that my comments may upset the nationalist on the forum but hey everyone is entitled to have an opinion. If I have hurt your feelings . ...humay maaf karey as they say in Urdu :-)

Thanks, I agree... Sogul, I dont know what your native language is, but as a fellow Pakistani, you have my support. Speak your own native language with pride!!

[Spock]

@thejoke

By Spocks definition Balochi should be imposed.

Afsoos key after 4-5pages aap ko samajh nahee arahi, but I wont try again, so Ill just respond by saying, its better to impose Baluchi on people living in baluchistan than Urdu.

[Spock]

@X2

hey man we have a democracy now. tell your representatives to raise the issue in the national assembly and make teh change, i got no issues with having many national languages.

You bet we will.

[quote]

although I must say, there are plenty of other things destroying Pakistan more, but we dont see 5 page long threads on those :)
[/quote]

I made lots of threads about dictatorships and fascist parties :D

[Himalaya]

HHAHAHAA closet MQM supporter ROFLMAO. I dont blame Punjab EVERYONE ELSE is doing it.

Have you heard the BLA ever talking about Urdu being a threat? Most of their time they point fingers at the PUNJABI ESTABLISHMENT and they accuse them of stealing other peoples resources for the benefit of their own. Its not just Baloch nationalist but pashtun and sindhi who point these same fingers at Punjab with good reason.

I hope you get to travel around Balochistan and get to experience why these people hate pakistan. Urdu is not one of them. You are claiming its Urdu thats dividing the nation and creating resentment - Im telling you the real reasons. the urdu speaking community have just become an easy target since may 12 2007. You are making Urdu and MQM the scapegoats of pakistans 60 year problems.

The average joe does nt have time to rack up 17,000 posts and spend hours on GS too. FYI the average joe in Pakistan finds Urdu very useful. Both Punjabis and Pashtuns are the most willing to spread out all over pakistan - it is these 2 communities who have benefitted from having urdu imposed the most. The average joe in Pakistan travels more. Have you ever counted how many Buses go daily from Peshawar to Rawalpindi - there maybe 1 every 10 minutes. Then theres other methods of transport from Peshawar ie Daewoo buses, trains, them hiace vans - and im so many leave from other NWFP cities too.
If there was no Urdu Im pretrty much sure pashtn nationalists would have hated the fact that there people would have been forced to learn punjabi.

Did you know Baloch nationalists cannot communicate in Balochi because they either speak Balochi, Brahui, Seraiki or Sindhi. The Baloch are not a united ethnic group linguistically.

My Urdu is weak but everyone in pakistan I have come across can speak urdu except a few from Punjab who spoke their own. Speak to a Pashtun, Sindhi, Balochi in urdu and they will talk back to you in Urdu - no problemo at all.

The interesting thing that youmention is that own assemblies work in their own languages.

1. So what exactly is the provincial language for balochistan? The 3 most widely spoken language are balochi, brahui and pashtu. Unless you cut Balochistan up into fuirther provinces then you would create huge problems.

2. in NWFP pashtu is spoken more than the others. Most Chitralis and people from Hazara division cannt speak pashtu - From your system does that mean if there was a chitrali , Hindko speaker and Pashtun that when the pashtun talks he willspeak pashtu and other chitrali speak chitrali and the other speak Hindko. Would they be able to talk together in whatever language they want even if they dont understand each other? I know is a silly scenario but I detect that you think its perfectly reasonable to impose pashtu on a chitrali and hindko speaker?

3. Sindh is not all Sindhi speaking as well. There are a lot of urdu speakers there. I know some may argue historically its been Sindhi speaking but we have to look at today’s situation. If Urdu speakers cant have their views heard in sindh and be accepted as par tof the demographics in Sindh then i say deport all those who claim any non-native to the lands people. Most of pakistans urban areas have developed over last 50 years - by that definition the populations are also not local and should have no say how the city is run.

4. in Punjab most people speak seraiki - how would lahories and pindiwalas feel when seraiki is spoken in their asemblies?

Sometimes somethings have to be imposed. Should womens right be taken away in Pakistan because the majority of the country do not adhere to them?

The problem with your argument is that you dont want to impose Urdu yet you support the imposition of even lesser and just-as-alien smaller languages. Your argument is not a solution but a catalyst for furhter problems.

Is ok to spend time reading fancy arguments on the net by psuedo-intellectuals but not alll of their ideas work in practise. Where mother tongues must be supported is at schools where people learn to read and write them. Teachers must start basic education in mother tongues so that chldren learn effectively and quickly. Any other languages can be learnt later on.

I simply find it bad manners, morally wrong, unacceptable that people would want to sit in assemblies wanting to discuss extremely important issues such ad budgets, health policy, education, social progress in multi-lingual settings and then want to speakin their own languages knowing full well they are not understood. if people want to chit chat amongst friends about what they did the other night then fair enough do it in whichever language suits you. When it comes to an important subject where people are being affected negatively or positively and its multi-lingual group setting then people should speak the language which everyone can speak. In the case of people sitting in assemblies most can speak Urdu fairly well and Im sure the others have more than enough knowledge of it.

For example, Discussions about health care improvements in the Balochistan assembly in the Balochi language would automatically exclude and discriminate against Barhuis and Pashtuns.

@Spock

With the same logic, maybe you are blaming Punjab for everything is because you are a closet MQM supporter. Sorry but MQM has nothing to do with Urdu. So lets leave the MQM at that. Also, I hope you know that my native language is Urdu, but I dont stick to the ‘oh just because its my native language i have to support it’ like a yes man. As for your claims about Punjab getting the lion’s share, you are forgetting that its Punjab who feeds the country too. Sorry but that has nothing to do with the imposition of urdu as national language. Lets leave all that out of this thread and not go off topic.

Zardari can address Pakistan in Urdu, no problems with that, however having provincial languages as official language means that the Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, NWFP assemblies work in their own languages and carry out their agenda in their own languages, and the Federal Govt can work in Urdu and English (their choice, Mushy liked English, some like Urdu). I hope you get it now, because even a 2nd grader would be able to understand this.

Also, your claim of 95% of Paksitanis speaking Urdu is absurd, though I see some improvement, last time you were saying 100% Furthermore, an average joe does not go galloping around Pakistan so that should be the least of the concern. If provincial languages are made official languages, Mr. Galloping Tourist can still use Urdu to communicate with these people, as like I said before Urdu should stay as one of these languages. The average joe mostly stays in his own province, wants to speak his own language, wants his countrymen to respect his desire to follow his own culture and traditions.

[X2]

Re: Urdu Language Destroying Pakistan!

can we also include some other languages, vulcan, klingon, romulan for example

[Himalaya]

your right

but your very argument misses the fact that balochistan is a multi-ethnic province......balochi is not even spoken by 50% of the population.....

to please one group you will anger another?

@Spock

Afsoos key after 4-5pages aap ko samajh nahee arahi, but I wont try again, so Ill just respond by saying, its better to impose Baluchi on people living in baluchistan than Urdu.

[abdelyuuki]

Re: Urdu Language Destroying Pakistan!

thejoke is right. Spock, swallow your noobish Punjabi pride and admit defeat, or else you'll just be further tainting Punjabis and proving why others resent them so much.

Punjabi - NEVER, Urdu - FOREVER!!

[abdelyuuki]

@Spock

Afsoos key after 4-5pages aap ko samajh nahee arahi, but I wont try again, so Ill just respond by saying, its better to impose Baluchi on people living in baluchistan than Urdu.

Afsoos key gozashte, rafta barnagashtey, ien dele tanhaye man sau bar shekastey , mikhom ke asheghe basham amo nemishey, chehra to rafti begoo vase hamishe. lol

[Spock]

@abdelyuuki

thejoke is right. Spock, swallow your noobish Punjabi pride and admit defeat, or else you'll just be further tainting Punjabis and proving why others resent them so much.

Punjabi - NEVER, Urdu - FOREVER!!

Chanda, I am not speaking for Punjabis, I am speaking for everyone except the burger bachey who grew up speaking Urdu and think thats the way to go about it.

[Spock]

@thejoke

HHAHAHAA closet MQM supporter ROFLMAO. I dont blame Punjab EVERYONE ELSE is doing it.

Firstly, the fact that you brought in the MQM here just shows your desperation. You say I hate the MQM fine, I say you hate Punjabiz, end of story.

Have you heard the BLA ever talking about Urdu being a threat? Most of their time they point fingers at the PUNJABI ESTABLISHMENT and they accuse them of stealing other peoples resources for the benefit of their own. Its not just Baloch nationalist but pashtun and sindhi who point these same fingers at Punjab with good reason.

There beef was over the last decade was with a non-Punjabi moronic dictator And care to tell me how this was a Punjabi establishment over the last 10 years? Is Asif Ali Zardari a punjabi? Is Shortcut Aziz a Punjabi? I am not giving this argument a political touch, you are, only because you have nothing to back your theory of imposing Urdu on everyone.

I hope you get to travel around Balochistan and get to experience why these people hate pakistan. Urdu is not one of them. You are claiming its Urdu thats dividing the nation and creating resentment - Im telling you the real reasons. the urdu speaking community have just become an easy target since may 12 2007. You are making Urdu and MQM the scapegoats of pakistans 60 year problems.

Pashtuns arent fond of Urdu, and most of the ones up north have already succesfully defied the write of the Govt. Naturally, they arent fond of urdu speakers. These days, in places like Waziristan they hunt down Urdu speakers, and chop their heads off because they think they are Government officials and outsiders. If NWFP becomes a country of its own, guess what, Urdu wont be their ‘national’ language. Also, you brought your MQM into this discussion. MQM has nothing to do with Urdu, infact the degenerates can barely speak it properly. Have you heard General Musharraf (their spiritual leader) and Altaf speak Urdu?

The average joe does nt have time to rack up 17,000 posts and spend hours on GS too. FYI the average joe in Pakistan finds Urdu very useful. Both Punjabis and Pashtuns are the most willing to spread out all over pakistan - it is these 2 communities who have benefitted from having urdu imposed the most. The average joe in Pakistan travels more. Have you ever counted how many Buses go daily from Peshawar to Rawalpindi - there maybe 1 every 10 minutes. Then theres other methods of transport from Peshawar ie Daewoo buses, trains, them hiace vans - and im so many leave from other NWFP cities too.
If there was no Urdu Im pretrty much sure pashtn nationalists would have hated the fact that there people would have been forced to learn punjabi.

Did you know Baloch nationalists cannot communicate in Balochi because they either speak Balochi, Brahui, Seraiki or Sindhi. The Baloch are not a united ethnic group linguistically.

My Urdu is weak but everyone in pakistan I have come across can speak urdu except a few from Punjab who spoke their own. Speak to a Pashtun, Sindhi, Balochi in urdu and they will talk back to you in Urdu - no problemo at all.

Guess what, they speak their own language better! this is why 90% of the country speaks their own language, and its not Urdu

The interesting thing that youmention is that own assemblies work in their own languages.

1. So what exactly is the provincial language for balochistan? The 3 most widely spoken language are balochi, brahui and pashtu. Unless you cut Balochistan up into fuirther provinces then you would create huge problems.

2. in NWFP pashtu is spoken more than the others. Most Chitralis and people from Hazara division cannt speak pashtu - From your system does that mean if there was a chitrali , Hindko speaker and Pashtun that when the pashtun talks he willspeak pashtu and other chitrali speak chitrali and the other speak Hindko. Would they be able to talk together in whatever language they want even if they dont understand each other? I know is a silly scenario but I detect that you think its perfectly reasonable to impose pashtu on a chitrali and hindko speaker?

3. Sindh is not all Sindhi speaking as well. There are a lot of urdu speakers there. I know some may argue historically its been Sindhi speaking but we have to look at today’s situation. If Urdu speakers cant have their views heard in sindh and be accepted as par tof the demographics in Sindh then i say deport all those who claim any non-native to the lands people. Most of pakistans urban areas have developed over last 50 years - by that definition the populations are also not local and should have no say how the city is run.

4. in Punjab most people speak seraiki - how would lahories and pindiwalas feel when seraiki is spoken in their asemblies?

Sometimes somethings have to be imposed. Should womens right be taken away in Pakistan because the majority of the country do not adhere to them?

The problem with your argument is that you dont want to impose Urdu yet you support the imposition of even lesser and just-as-alien smaller languages. Your argument is not a solution but a catalyst for furhter problems.

Is ok to spend time reading fancy arguments on the net by psuedo-intellectuals but not alll of their ideas work in practise. Where mother tongues must be supported is at schools where people learn to read and write them. Teachers must start basic education in mother tongues so that chldren learn effectively and quickly. Any other languages can be learnt later on.

I simply find it bad manners, morally wrong, unacceptable that people would want to sit in assemblies wanting to discuss extremely important issues such ad budgets, health policy, education, social progress in multi-lingual settings and then want to speakin their own languages knowing full well they are not understood. if people want to chit chat amongst friends about what they did the other night then fair enough do it in whichever language suits you. When it comes to an important subject where people are being affected negatively or positively and its multi-lingual group setting then people should speak the language which everyone can speak. In the case of people sitting in assemblies most can speak Urdu fairly well and Im sure the others have more than enough knowledge of it.

For example, Discussions about health care improvements in the Balochistan assembly in the Balochi language would automatically exclude and discriminate against Barhuis and Pashtuns.

As for the rest of strories, again my support for languages is not just limited to 3-4 languages. If we have more languages that a larger part of Pakistan speaks, then so be it, introduce them into the curriculam, develop them, and preserve/protect them.

4. in Punjab most people speak seraiki -

[wondergurl]

Re: Urdu Language Destroying Pakistan!

As usual everything comes down to ethnic differences. i’m convinced the ‘point’ of this thread is not love lost for our native langauges but politically driven. Lets look at some facts for a change instead of using emotions to back up arguments.

Encyclopedia Article
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Urdu is the official language of Pakistan. It is the first language of only a small percentage of the population, but it cuts across linguistic and provincial boundaries as the national language. More than 75 percent of Pakistanis can speak and understand Urdu. In urban areas about 95 percent of the people communicate in Urdu. Urdu replaced English as the official language in 1978.

Most Pakistanis speak at least two languages. A large segment of the population is trilingual, speaking English, Urdu, and an ethnic-based regional language. Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Baluchi, and Brahui are the major regional languages. These languages have many regional dialects, including Saraiki, a widely spoken dialect of Punjabi. Regional languages are recognized as a potent force because language and ethnic identity are closely interrelated; even the national census categorizes groups according to their language, rather than their ethnicity. However, there is growing awareness among Pakistanis that for social mobility, national cohesion, and individual success, it is imperative to be fluent in Urdu and proficient in English.

Several factors contributed to the establishment of Urdu as the lingua franca of Pakistan. It was the language of the educated Muslims in northern India, who spearheaded the Pakistan Movement. Urdu helped foster a linguistic identity among Muslims in the region. Although similar to Hindi as a spoken language, Urdu uses a Persian-derived script and incorporates many Arabic words. Choosing Urdu as the national language provided a linguistic basis for the formation of a Muslim national identity. It also provided the country with a “neutral” language because Urdu does not have ethnic or tribal associations.