Expecting the student to grasp so many languages and be proficient in them is cruel and deserves an immediate remedy
KARACHI: This is apropos the letter to the editor titled, “Paradigm shift” by Mr Nazeer Ahmed Arijo, published on April 19. I fully endorse Mr Arijo’s view on adopting one’s mother tongue and national language as the medium of instruction in schools and colleges.
The question as to which language should be the national language of Pakistan still remains largely controversial and unresolved. However, it may be safely argued that no language can ever become national unless it is also a regional language. The dilemma of Urdu is that it has never been a regional language in any of the constituent units of Pakistan. While the regional languages of Pakistan are mainly Sindhi, Seraiki, Balochi, Pashtu and Punjabi, they have never been given the importance they rightly deserve, nor given the status they are rightly entitled to. Undoubtedly, these languages are national languages in their own right, and more so in the case of the Sindhi language which has a script and glorious history of its own.
Moreover, the English language can easily be declared as the language of communication that may be used by people of different linguistic backgrounds to communicate. This will both consolidate and promote the use of the English language on one hand and enhance the importance of national and regional languages on the other. Nowadays, the average Pakistani student has to cope with having to learn Urdu, one of his or her regional languages, and English. Urdu can safely be relegated to the status of an optional subject in our educational system as expecting the student to grasp so many languages and be proficient in them at the same time is perhaps a little too cruel and deserves an immediate remedy.
Imran Almani
Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2016.
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