<div dir="ltr"><h1 class="" itemprop="name">The language lab</h1>
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<span class=""><a href="http://tns.thenews.com.pk/writers/dr-nadia-anwar/" rel="tag">Dr Nadia Anwar</a> </span>
<span>November 22, 2015</span>
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<p class="">With Urdu and English vying for supremacy and
authority, most of the leading intellectuals find themselves at the
linguistic crossroads</p>
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<div class="">There was a consensus among speakers that Urdu can suffice as the official language.</div>
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<p>When Muhammad Ali Jinnah as the Governor General made the historic
declamation of assigning Urdu the status of state language in 1948,
nobody knew how honouring this commitment by the founder of Pakistan
will become a challenge for the prospective constitutions and successive
governments. In spite of various movements in favour of a unified
linguistic identity, continual experimentations in educational
institutes by authorities with regard to the implementation of Urdu as
the official language and as a medium of instruction, and the Supreme
Court ruling of September 8, 2015 which reiterates the Article 251 of
1973 constitution, Pakistan’s linguistic situation, instead of becoming
clear, has become even more cloudy and ambiguous.</p>
<p>With this backdrop, the Department of English Language and
Literature, The University of Management and Technology Lahore found it
opportune to invite scholars from different fields and open a discussion
on how the decision of adopting Urdu as an official language can be
viewed on the one hand as a source of controversy and an improbable
practice and on the other as a means to promote national language and
facilitate its immersion in the social and educational fabric of
Pakistan. The seminar entitled “Urdu as the Official Language in
Pakistan: Challenges, Implications and Prospects” held on November 14
aimed to create a platform for eminent linguists, intellectuals and
policy makers to come together and discuss the various aspects and
implications of language pedagogy, policy and planning.</p>
<p>This has become all the more important after the Chief Justice of
Pakistan Jawwad S. Khawaja’s historic judgement of September 8, ordering
that within a period of three months Urdu will be made the official
language of Pakistan. This ruling by the Supreme Court has generated a
new debate as to how and with what implications Urdu can be adopted as
an official language. With this decision there hangs in the air many
unaccounted for and controversial aspects of language use and
acquisition in the context of Pakistan’s official medium of instruction
and communication especially in the education sector, which Dr Tariq
Rahman sarcastically calls the white elephant in the room about which no
official documents makes any mention of.</p>
<p>The seminar allowed the speakers and participants to acquaint
themselves with and assess the prevailing views about the topic and
propose viable solutions that carry weight in the formation of language
policies in Pakistan. The seminar was attended by the Rector, UMT, Dr
Hasan Sohaib Murad, former Vice Chancellor, Lahore College for Women,
Lahore, Dr Sabiha Mansoor, Director External Linkages, University of the
Punjab, Dr Maria Maldonado, Dean of Social Sciences and Humanities UMT,
Prof Dr Abdul Hameed, Prof Munawar Ali Malik and various heads of
departments, faculty members, researcher and students from various
universities and educational institutes.</p>
<p>The speakers underscored the repercussions of the Supreme Court
ruling while wondering how an order which failed to produce results in
more than 40 years would be executed in three months. A great deal of
emphasis was put on the impractical nature of the procedural part of the
directive. Strewn with various ambiguities, the ruling is phrased in
such a manner as to leave room for several interpretations. For
instance, the reference to ‘unnecessary delays’ in the carrying out of
the order, the specification of impractical timeline, the implications
of possible violation of the order, the parallel existence of Urdu and
English versions of official and legal documents, and the delivery of
speeches by the government officials and dignitaries in Urdu, despite
good nationalistic intentions, not only require further elaboration and
explanation but in some cases fail to make any sense to a rational mind.</p><div class=""><div>
<strong>Despite various movements in favour of a unified linguistic
identity, Pakistan’s linguistic situation, instead of becoming clear,
has become even more cloudy.</strong>
</div></div>
<p>Alluding to previous attempts of Pakistani authorities in the
promotion of Urdu, Prof Malik appreciated the National Language
Promotion Department which strove to facilitate the adoption of Urdu as
the official language by taking various measures, including the
preparation of dictionaries and helping material for the training of
in-service personnel. The fact, however, is that all these efforts which
if logistically analysed gives off a sense of half-hearted and
unorganised engagement with the problem of determining the status of
Urdu in Pakistan. Consequently, the task of proper switch-over to Urdu
still remains unfulfilled resulting in the creation of an intricate
linguistic demography.</p>
<p>Taking this point further, Dr Maldonado, one of the key speakers of
the seminar, pointed out that in the presence of three different systems
of education in Pakistan it is near to impossible to have one
officiating language. The cornucopia of varying levels of linguistic
proficiencies indirectly affect the understanding and status of both
English and Urdu languages. Before the formation of language policies
the educational infrastructure of Pakistan needs to undergo a radical
change, freeing itself from the bureaucratic privileging of English and
prestige associated with its use and acquisition.</p>
<p>The speakers wondered how the government is planning to measure to
what extent the provincial governments have been able to follow the
implementation process and how much they have progressed in this regard
given that the timeline has almost expired. Since people are still using
English in their official business and as the medium of instruction in
educational institutes, how will they be forced to discontinue their
past practices is a task, if not impossible, herculean in nature. In
almost all academic and professional areas, Dr Maldonado accentuated the
need of experts for the translation of specialised knowledge fields. So
if this is what Supreme Court terms ‘unnecessary delays’, then these
delays are going to continue affecting the progress of the order till
eternity.</p>
<p>Some of the major challenges that this ruling raised for provincial
governments were identified by Prof Malik. The first relates to the
proficiency in Urdu speech and drafting which can only be achieved with
rigorous training and preparation of comprehensive syllabus and reading
and writing material. The second challenge is to provide sufficient
resources to National Language Authority to allow them to develop Urdu
computer softwares, an inevitable need of the day. Lastly, there is a
need among certain classes in society to hold Urdu in due esteem, a
point reprehending the existence of two languages in which one is a
foreign language and a sign of imperial hegemony.</p>
<p>There was a consensus among speakers that Urdu can suffice as the
official language in Pakistan. Dr Mansoor, in this regard, strongly
supported the use of Urdu in higher education and official business.
However, parallel with this pro-government stance ran apprehensions
shown by some speakers about the applicability of such a drastic action.
They stated that the transition if inevitable can only happen without
disrupting the existing linguistic scenario and creating a harmony
between languages in use which may perhaps be closer to the ambitious
position some scholars have taken by proposing a new language called
‘Pakistani’, the only way for them to get out of the linguistic
rigmarole Pakistan is beset with today.</p>
<p>Dr Abdul Hameed, while praising the flexibility of Urdu language and
its capacity to adapt itself to newly-emerging linguistic demands and
ever-changing social situation, highlighted the cognitive suitability of
mother tongues for primary education and the need to use English for
scientific and technological purposes. Taking a middle position, Prof
Malik favoured Urdu equivalents of English words and terms, and in cases
where such equivalents are not possible, the availability of current
English terms in Urdu script.</p>
<p>Although different speakers proposed different ways to achieve
harmony between Urdu and English and smooth switchover from one language
to another, Dr Hasan Sohaib Murad, Rector UMT, was skeptic about the
recent ruling which had come out of the blue and without prior homework.
While citing various linguistic situations around the globe, he
emphasised the formation of a unified linguistic sensibility. However,
also realising the pitfalls of making generalisations, he did put
forward the benefits of single state national language and its usage in
all walks of life, which makes it a sign of prestige and delivers its
speakers of inferiority complex.</p>
<p>Already a hodgepodge of various dialects and tongues, with Urdu and
English vying for supremacy and authority as official and academic
languages and regional languages dragging behind, most of the leading
intellectuals in the country have found themselves at the crossroads
with no direction to follow. Whether it is about the change in power
relations or inversion of linguistic privileges as in Dr Tariq Rahman’s
words, there are serious problems involved in the doability and the
procedure of the action.</p>
<p>Expressing these ideas and thanking the worthy guests, the
Chairperson of the Department, Dr Muhammad Shaban, restated the need to
engage scholars and intellectuals to work alongside government
authorities in the formation of language policies in Pakistan. He
emphasised the need to have regular discussion forums such as this
seminar where government officials could also be attendance.</p>
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