[LAP] The language of identity

[Zubair Torwali]

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/187925-The-language-of-identity

The language of identity

*“One does not inhabit a country; one inhabits a language.” —Emil Cioran*

A day before the International Mother Language Day (IMLD) on February 21,
the Senate Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights held a
public meeting at the Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Studies in
Islamabad. The drafts of two bills of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill,
2016 were discussed at the meeting.

One of the bills was introduced by Senator Sassui Palijo along with Senator
Mukhtiar Ahmed Dhamrah. The other was introduced by Senator Karim Ahmed
Khawaja on behalf of over 30 other senators.

Both bills demanded a “national status” for a few languages spoken by
Pakistani citizens. They suggested an amendment to Article 251 in the
constitution. One of the bills – which was presented by Sassui Palijo –
recommends that Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi, Brahvi, Hindko and
Seraiki should be declared national languages alongside Urdu, which is
currently the only language which holds this status. The second bill,
however, suggests that only four languages – Balochi, Pashto, Punjabi and
Sindhi – in addition to Urdu should be accorded the status of national
languages.

Determining the status of a language is among the stages of language
planning and is based on the model proposed by the German linguist Heinz
Kloss. It usually refers to a change in the social role of a language –
particularly with respect to the state or government.

Status planning for a language involves the external or functional
development of a language within society. It is not an internal process
which involves corpus planning where the reading materials for a language
are documented and developed.

In Pakistan, the nine policy documents issued on education and choice of
languages indicate that since the inception of the country, policy planners
have always been at odds with the status planning for the languages spoken
in Pakistan. The confusion still haunts decision-makers – as is evident
from the two bills presented at the meeting.

In 2014, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice
rejected a similar bill moved by Marvi Memon wherein the national status
for 10 languages – including Urdu – was sought. Later, in 2016, this same
committee of the Senate deferred a bill moved by the Senator Karim Ahmed
Khawaja. This bill brought eight languages – Balochi, Balti, Brahvi,
Punjabi, Pashto, Shina, Sindhi and Seraiki – within its ambit. The current
bills – on which the opinion of linguists and activists was sought – are
actually the modified forms of the bill that was ‘deferred’ last year.

Although the current drafts of the bills reflect the continued commitment
made by lawmakers over the status of the languages spoken by Pakistanis –
and are, indeed, laudable – they also indicate some critical problems
within our society.

Both drafts of the same bill clearly suggest how languages are dealt with
in Pakistan. The status accorded to the four widely spoken languages in
both bills – which are billed as ‘provincial’ languages – implies that, in
Pakistan, only those whose voices can be heard enjoy political clout. A
majority of our lawmakers on the federal and provincial levels are native
speakers of Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto and Balochi and can actively influence
decisions taken about the status accorded to languages.

Palijo’s draft of the bill, on the other hand, suggests that a ‘nationality
unit’ can politically assert itself by aggressively demanding a new
province on ethnic grounds. However, this will only become evident if a
national status is accorded to Seraiki and Hindko.

In such a milieu, the speakers of the remaining 60 or more languages have
rightly found themselves in a marginalised position. Both bills do not
mention any of these languages. They also overlook the languages spoken in
two other federating units – Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

While these bills should be welcomed, it is difficult to accept the idea
they implicitly propagate that only the ‘core’ elements should matter
politically, economically and socially. The failure to accord a national
status to a majority of languages spoken by Pakistanis undermines the
underlying objective of the bills. These bills seek “to recognise all the
languages [within] constitution and set an example [by accepting] all
people of Pakistan [who speak] any language [that belongs] to any corner of
the country”. This approach will ensure “equality among the citizens of the
country”.

However, it is unlikely that the languages mentioned in the bills are
spoken in every corner of Pakistan. How can the citizens of our country be
equal when only a handful of the languages they speak are recognised as
‘national languages’?

The speakers of the remaining indigenous languages can be found all over
the country – from the deep south to the extreme north. They cannot wait
for another seven decades for the day when their languages will be
recognised within the mainstream and they would be able to call themselves
equal citizens of Pakistan in the truest sense. The bills should also
declare all these languages as national languages. Concrete measures should
be taken to promote these languages and educate people in them. Most of
these languages need to be preserved from becoming extinct. Each word and
syllable of these languages is dear to their native speakers. The emotional
connection they feel towards their native languages has been beautifully
expressed by Alitet Nemtushkin, an Evenki poet, in the following stanza:

If I forget my native speech/And the songs that my people sing/What use are
my eyes and ears?/What use is my mouth?/If I forget the smell of the
earth/And do not serve it well/

What use are my hands?/Why am I living in the world?/How can I believe the
foolish idea/That my language is weak and poor/If my mother’s last
words/were in Evenki?



The writer heads an independent
organisation dealing with education and development in Swat.

Email: ztorwali at gmail.com
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*Zubair Torwali*

*Executive Director*
*IBT (Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi)*

 (ادارہ برائے تعلیم و ترقی (ا ب ت)

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