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LCWU

Language & Politics

Assignment


Presented by: Allia Hussain Tirmazi
Roll# 58
MA TESOL Part 1









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Language Diversity- a threat to State?
Languages spoken in this part of the world are primarily Indo-Aryan origin except
Brahvi. This particular area has been the central stage of foreign invasion since ages
which have played its role in shaping the mind and soul of the people living in our
northern part of sub-continent.
In medieval times people of sub-continent started to identify themselves with the
languages they spoke. This phenomenon was more prominent in central India, where
minority Muslims emerged as the standard bases of Urdu. When Pakistan was carved
out of the landmass of subcontinent language became the serious issue of political
discourse of the time. Majority of the population living in East Bengal /East Pakistan
declined to substitute their language i.e. Bengali with Urdu.
Whereas people of West Pakistan particularly in Punjab had no qualms with Urdu. In
other three smaller provinces Urdu found a little resistance. It was considered that there
must be the one language which may be the common language of the people speaking
different languages. In this background Urdu was introduced as the National language
of the country.
With every passing year, the issue of language became more & more prominent and
time came when it changed the political, social & geographical landscape of the country.
We can easily judge that how state patronized Urdu in order to integrate diversified
lingual ethnic groups at the cost of ignoring local languages. This policy of the state
backfired as one can see many political and pressure groups emerging in the name of
languages in various parts of the country, for example Sindh Quomi Mohaaz,
Baluchistan National party, GA Sindh Quomi Mohaaz which further drew lines on lingual
basis.
This policy of unification through elimination of diversity has failed not only in Pakistan
but also in many parts of the world. On the other hand principle of unification through
diversity has been successfully experimented in India & Europe union. In India the rise
of regional political parties replacing larger one or two political parties has given better
voice to the common man living in streets and it has strengthen the state and people
relationship.
As they said One can be a good patriot Indian while being Punjabi, Marathi, Gujrati
etc., he needs not to shed his/her own identity. Similarly in Pakistan one can be
good Pakistani being a Sindhi, Balochi, Punjabi etc.
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State should come out of this fear that to be a good Pakistani, one should discard
his/her ethnicity or lingual identity.