English & Urdu Languages in Pakistan: By Kamal Raza

In Pakistan, the English language is under fire, and people have a very strange point of view about it without any solid reason. Everybody is demanding Urdu be declared our official language. Aspirants for competitive examinations are also requesting that their exams be administered in Urdu. In provincial and national assemblies, different members have taken the matter up. The doors of the courts and senate have been knocked on several times. Different rallies and seminars are also conducted by people related to different fields, especially Urdu literature. On the other hand, using religion as an excuse, extremists are raising their slogans in opposition to the English language. Finally, all these efforts do not yield any effective results.

In fact, people are being deliberately kept away from reality, and the truth is being concealed. Being an international language, English has the right to overcome the rest of the languages. This credit must go to their speakers, even if they belong to any country. Everything nowadays requires English to be understood. If one takes a bird’s-eye view of the English language, it is impossible to deny the fact that it meets the criteria of an international language in every way. The English language has dominated the world’s overall systems. Even as a superpower and the world’s largest economy, China, like most countries, cannot deny the importance of English. In general, world events are translated into English. A student who belongs to any country will get by with the English language if he wants to get admission to any university in the world. Simply, all correspondence with universities is carried out in English. Even students must pass English proficiency exams (TOEFL, IELTS, and so on). Without passing the English ability test, nobody even gets admission to top foreign universities. All the subjects are being taught in English, even in China.

Prime Ministers and Presidents from any country of the world in any conference or meeting must speak the English language; otherwise, they may not be given importance. All trade and economic matters are conducted in English around the world. So how could anybody deny the importance of such language? Because the majority of languages lack vocabulary, official correspondence cannot be carried out. When the case was heard in court in Pakistan, it was revealed that Urdu lacks a sufficient vocabulary to conduct correspondence and official state business. Unfortunately, to gain political and religious advantages for politicians and religious scholars, such campaigns are being done in Pakistan, which creates severe problems in our country.

If we want to implement our national language, Urdu, as our official language, our politicians, religious scholars, economists, bureaucrats, students, judiciary, writers, and even everybody else from any walk of life will strive for the best to take the Urdu language up to the level where we wouldn’t need any language in any forum of the world. The government should also facilitate the writers in all aspects, especially financially. Poets and writers should light the midnight candle to work for the advancement of Urdu. Our economists should also perform their duties to work for the development of Pakistan. In schools, Urdu may be given importance along with English and other local languages. Legislators must introduce and pass legislation in support of Urdu literature and writers. By the way, both Urdu and Pakistan will attain their actual positions.