Medium of instruction: Replies sought from federal, provincial govt

LAHORE:

Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi of Lahore High Court on Wednesday again issued notices to the federal and the provincial governments on a petition seeking orders to make Urdu the official language.

The judge sought detailed replies from both governments by January 23, 2015.

Qaumi Language Tehreek president Sharif Nizami had filed the petition.

Advocate AK Dogar, the petitioner’s counsel, said most people in the country could only read and write Urdu.

He said if Urdu was not adopted as the official language, the country would not be able to progress.

He said the language policy had affected the educational system and often hindered official work. The petitioner said the provincial government wanted to replace Urdu curriculum with English. Dogar said the Punjab government had enforced an English-medium education system. He said Urdu-medium schools had been abolished in the Punjab through a notification issued on March 28, 2009. He said all official work was done in English. Dogar said the notification was a violation of the Constitution.

He said Urdu was declared the official language under Article 251(1) of the Constitution of 1973 and the arrangements were to be made for it to be used for official purposes within 15 years. He said Article 251 (1) was never enforced.

He asked the court to set aside the government’s notification and order the government to make Urdu the medium of instruction in schools.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2014.