Language planning and policy are inextricably linked to access to higher education and graduate employment, and viewed as key global issues in international development. In Pakistan, the language policy for official and educational purposes is seen by sociolinguists as more critical for its socio-economic development, as currently it has a large young population (60 percent) ranging between 16 to 23 years.
Pakistan is a multilingual and multicultural country. As such, a number of factors have to be taken into account while language planning so as to ensure the successful implementation of a language policy in official spheres, including education. In terms of status planning, soon after independence in 1947, the rulers of the newly founded state of Pakistan selected Urdu as the national official language of Pakistan. The decision of not including Bengali as the official language, which was the mother tongue of speakers in East Pakistan, having the largest population, and developing materials for official and educational use in Urdu, is considered as one of the key factors in alienating the Bengalis by creating barriers for them, preventing them from entering the corridors of power.
English, being a legacy of British rulers, was deeply entrenched as a language in all higher spheres of the government with all official documentation in English, as well as developed materials in higher education. As such, an elitist language policy has been in place since independence where both Urdu (eight percent) and English (one percent) enjoy the status of majority languages despite being the mother tongues of a very small population, used for official and educational purposes. The legacy of the former British rulers of the subcontinent in which the medium of instruction was English for the upper classes, and vernacular or regional languages for lower classes has persisted to date, is seen in the high status of English, and the low status and limited role of vernacular or regional languages. Recent studies in educational language planning and policy in education reveal that almost all former British colonies offer English as a subject or alternate medium of instruction.
The Constitution of Pakistan, 1973 and the UNESCO report of 1956 state that regional languages or mother tongue should be used in primary schooling for cognitive development and mental flexibility as well as for the maintenance of cultural enrichment. However, due to a highly centralised policy adopted by Pakistan until recently regional languages, mainly the mother tongues of different language speaking communities — Pashto (15 percent), Balochi (3.6 percent), Seraiki (10 percent), Sindhi (15 percent) and Punjabi (44 percent) – though spoken by a large population, are minority languages and delegated a low status, used at home with family or friends. Negligible or limited use is made of the mother tongue for educational purposes even at primary levels of schooling This is despite the fact that almost all language speaking communities have high ethno-linguistic vitality amongst their own speakers except in the case of Punjabi and especially the urban educated Punjabis, who downgrade their own language and are gradually shifting to Urdu as their first language.
Most regional languages have only been provided lip service in terms of state support for corpus planning or development of materials for official or educational purposes. Sindhi is exceptional as it is a highly developed language and, as per archives in the language census of 1937 in Sindh, Urdu was not even listed as a language. Sindhi has a strong and rich linguistic heritage; it was recognised as the first Indo-European language in the subcontinent. Sindhi was used as a medium of instruction for primary schooling even before independence in 1947. Corpus planning is vibrant and official, and educational materials are rapidly being developed by the Sindhi Language Authority. Sindhi is used as an alternate medium of instruction even at higher levels of education. All other regional language speakers — with large or small language speaking communities (4.6 percent), including Gujarati — make limited use of their languages for official or educational purposes.
Recent developments by state organs include the latest injunction by the Chief Justice (CJ) of Pakistan regarding implementing the national official language policy of Pakistan in Punjab by developing materials and making mandatory the use of Urdu for official purposes. This order has been welcomed by all segments of civil society. Urdu is a symbol of our national identity and the country’s lingua franca as well as considered by language planners as a suitable choice for national integration.
In the past, many efforts were made to provide support to Urdu, including the setting up of the Urdu Language Authority Board and generous funds provided by the state to develop materials in Urdu for official and educational purposes. However, the outcomes have been disappointing. The Sharif Commission in 1959 gave a period of 10 years to develop materials in Urdu, so as to replace the medium of instruction in higher education to Urdu. However, little progress has been made to implement this policy due to scarcity of materials in Urdu for higher education attributed to general apathy and lack of efficiency, especially in translating English materials. Recently, it was reported that an appeal was made to the honourable CJ by three judges of the Supreme Court (SC) to add Punjabi to the order of implementing the language policy of Punjab. This has been seen as a source of relief for Punjabi pressure groups as Punjabi is the regional language as well as mother tongue of millions of Punjabi speakers, and enhancing its official status could be a critical factor in arresting the language shift of the urban educated Punjabis to Urdu.
(To be continued)
The writer is a freelance columnist and a previous VC at the Lahore College for Women University