Both notifications were issued almost back-to-back — one by the Sindh government and the other by Beaconhouse School System, Sahiwal Boys Campus. While the former directed all private and government schools in Sindh to teach Sindhi language as a compulsory subject, the latter equated Punjabi with “taunts, abuses… and the hate speech.” While the first one was an attempt to preserve the historical heritage of Sindhi language, the other ridiculed Punjabi by portraying it to be the one used by elites only in the need of spitting foul abuses. Whereas one makes us appreciate the thoughtfulness of our leaders to preserve and promote a tradition, the other makes us feel ashamed of the values we are inculcating into the young generation.
Last week of the last month marks a historic moment when the Sindh Assembly passed a resolution submitted by the Muslim League-Functional to recognise Sindhi as a national language of Pakistan. This step was taken and approved of on the floor of the house despite opposition by a political party according to which Urdu was declared as the only national language of Pakistan by none other than Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and giving a provincial language the same status would cause similar demands to be raised for Pashto, Balochi and Punjabi.
Little did the opposing party know that this could be expected of any language spoken in Pakistan but Punjabi, for it is considered by our beau monde to be an illiterate version of Urdu owing to the likeness of the two languages. Speaking Punjabi in public is frowned upon and is not used by our nonpareil A-list to even communicate with servants. The current status of this 14-centuries-old language can be gauged by the simple inclination of Asif Ali Zardari to deliver at least some part of his speeches in Sindhi, but the smirks and guffaws that erupt in assemblages of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf when Imran Khan utters a single phrase in Punjabi.
Though the resolutions made by any legislative body may be criticised of embodying purely political decisions, the attempts made by a private school system to minimise the educational value of any language is highly deplorable. There cannot be made a mistake in comprehending the message being delivered by the following two sentences: “Foul language is NOT ALLOWED within and outside the school premises, in the morning, during the school hours and after home time. Foul language includes taunts, abuses, Punjabi and the hate speech.” Therefore, the claim being made by the school authority of no intention of targeting the language itself, and only to forbid the use of abusive words of this language does not stand in the house. It is highly recommended to them to kindly enhance their English language skills so as to make themselves capable of articulating a sentence that could convey the intended message.
So what if our children utter Punjabi or Urdu words in schools? Would it cause hindrance in learning a non-native language we have been conditioned to think of as a status symbol? Is this practice objectionable in any part of the world when learning more and more languages and dialects is encouraged everywhere? Does English’s status being that of today’s lingua franca deter the employing of words from other languages to express ideas and thoughts? How many more suicides are to be witnessed before we realise the harm this conventional form of education system is doing to our children? How many more movies based on learning disorders are to be made to realise that disorders like dyslexia can be dealt with by teaching the afflicted an entirely different language? Furthermore, what makes an English swear word any less abusive than one in Punjabi? Is son of a bi**ch lower in rank than ku**i da puttar? Then why was it so important to highlight one lingo in particular?
The private school authorities operating in Punjab need to realise that their fake accents and artificial hypocrisy does not, cannot and will not allow them to repudiate their responsibility to cater to students from families belonging to a broad spectrum of backgrounds hailing from Punjab. The school’s administration cannot make its students pronounce Sahiwal as ‘Sahi-wall’ by any endeavour. The fair complexion of an individual of Pakistani or Indian origin cannot help him in not being identified as one belonging to the ‘brown’ race.
These moneymaking private school setups can silence the parents by issuing warning notifications in the name of maintaining discipline but cannot avoid a similar discrimination outside the boundaries of this country owing to our own negligence. Punjabi is the 10th most widely spoken language in the world with over 100 million speakers, and one such notification cannot undermine its global significance. However, the price we all have to pay owing to this intolerance and partisanship exhibited by our own people is one of the key reasons behind our sufferings abroad.
Most of the people living in the Indian subcontinent understand and communicate in Urdu or Hindi. The emergence of these languages is chronologically preceded by that of Punjabi and Sanskrit, the latter’s earliest written records dating back to second millennium BCE. Therefore, it would be highly naïve of educational institutes to prohibit the use of Punjabi language in schools on the basis of a perception that makes Punjabi a rudimentary and crude version of Urdu. They need to stop being the Donald Trump of the East because the inhabitants of this world are seriously not in a position to handle more racism.
Every vernacular culture has its own significance and highlights the entire process that it had to undergo in order to qualify and become what it is today. Instilling values, norms, knowledge and wisdom is the primary function of all schools, colleges and universities and is absolutely commendable, but none of this should be done at the cost of snatching from the youth its traditions and customs, a practice that is equally condemnable. This will only cut us off from our roots, depriving us of the fundamental mould used to preserve the essence of every culture.
The writer is a student of Biotechnology