[lg policy] BOOK REVIEW: The impact of modernisation —by Dr Amjad Parvez

[Harold Schiffman]

BOOK REVIEW: The impact of modernisation —by Dr Amjad Parvez

Language, Policy, Identity and Religion

By Tariq Rahman

National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-e-Azam University; Pp 329;

A collection of articles published in various scholarly journals by
Tariq Rahman on Language, Policy, Identity and Religion form three
sections of a recently published book with the same title. Though
Nicholas Ostler had stated in his book titled The Empires of the Word
that the English language shall dominate the world forever, people use
language to socialise and they always have a way of multiplying
languages. As a legacy of the colonial rule, the countries that the
British left are still teaching the English language. The author has
focused in the first chapter, Pakistan’s policy, on English with brief
reference to other Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea,
Malaysia, Singapore, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. The author contends
that the terminology ‘globalisation’ has surpassed the wonders of the
Egyptian Pyramids, Roman aqueducts and Gothic cathedrals as presently
its westernisation manifestation is because of the digital revolution
that has increased the extent and speed of communication and the
resulting fast movement of capital across national boundaries. Its
link with language is due to the creation of a larger human community
as smaller or weaker languages have died out gradually. Some like
Skutnabb-Kangas declare English as a killer language. Some countries
such as Singapore and South Korea accept English as the most accepted
language among the countries of Asia and one country that still
resists it is Japan. In India, Bangladesh and Nepal, English remains
an elitist conserve.

In Pakistan, Tariq Rahman suggests that the linguistic capital of
English should be divided more evenly in society than it has been
before. Tariq adds that this should go hand in hand with making texts
in all educational languages consistent with liberal, democratic and
tolerant values so that the existing potential of reactionary and
pro-war discourses are countered.

In Chapter 2, the author goes into further details of the language
policy in Pakistan. Major local languages spoken in Pakistan are
Punjabi, 44 percent, Pashto 15.5 percent, Sindhi 14 percent, Seraiki
10 percent, Urdu 7.5 percent, Balochi 3.5 percent and others 4.5
percent. Provisions are there for the provincial assemblies, by law,
to prescribe measures for the teaching, promotion and use of
provincial languages in addition to the national language. Urdu
remains a popular medium of instruction at lower levels and English at
higher. Tariq Rahman’s analysis of school-going youngsters falls
heavily in favour of English (Page 28). As far as language vitality is
concerned, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh speak their local languages
informally whereas in Punjab, Sabiha Mansoor (1993) states that in the
elitist English medium schools, if somebody was caught talking in
Punjabi, he was labelled ‘paindu’ (peasant).

Chapter 4 discusses the impact of computerisation on language and the
author contends that it is not cost-effective to create computer
programmes in Pakistani languages whereas as per this reviewer, the
practice of some publishers is contrary to this.

Section Two of the book under review revolves around the way identity
has been constructed around the Muslims of North India and Pakistan.
Also, the relationship between mental reality and language is complex
and cyclical, and not transparent and linear. One has to look at the
way language constructs or mediates with respect to four dimensions:
politics, gender, class and religion. Tariq Rahman argues that
modernity, being a colonial product, has an effect of creating
identities with reference to western categories. The concept of
language planning in a modern state is therefore very important.

A very interesting part of this section of the book under review is
the reference to linguistic sweatshops, i.e. the call centres of
Pakistan (Page 130). The concept of sweatshops is that of paying less
to workers in a developing country than in a developed country. Call
centres contact any place in the world without any time lag. The
workers work hard and change their accents to attract orders. Both the
producers and call centre owners make money at the cost of cheap
labour.

The last section of the book deals with Munazara literature, the
Muslim response to English in South Asia, the events of 1857 in
contemporary writings in Urdu, and finally a very interesting study of
language on wheels, i.e. the inscriptions on trucks, buses, wagons and
rickshaws, etc. Such poetry couplets or lines reflect the rural
mentality of the masses. The talismanic nature of folk Islam
represented by religious symbols is a part of the culture of the
ordinary people of Pakistan. The slogans like ‘Yeh Sab Meri Maa Ki
Duaon Ka Nateeja Hai’ (All is because of my mother’s prayers) or
‘Jalney Waley Ka Munh Kala’ (Let the jealous one’s face be black)
depict our culture at the grassroots level.

Overall the book under review explores diverse issues very pertinent
to our country. This book, therefore, is both informative and food for
thought for many!

The reviewer is based in Lahore and can be reached at doc_amjad at hotmail.com



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