There has been a growing realization in the recent times
that language is a significant political tool which is used by dominant groups
to take control of marginalized groups. At the same time, language is a useful
tool to put up resistance against hegemony. That is why post-colonial
literature and feminist movements give central importance to language as they
believe that language is an important constituent of social reality that may
play a crucial role in titling the scale of power. Language is also viewed as a
strong identity marker, both at an individual and societal level.
Punjabi is the mother
tongue of the majority of people in Pakistan. Punjabi is spoken in the eastern
province of Punjab. Early Punjabi literature was written in Shahmukhi by
scholars and saints. The epic HeerRanjha was written in Punjabi by Waris
Shah 1722 - 1798. The language itself is very ancient and
has a rich history of literature and writing. Pakistani Punjabi people does not
know much of this as the government has actively encouraged Urdu, and there has
been a policy of almost willful neglect towards the Punjabi language. There are many variations and dialects
of the language known as; Pothohari, Jhangi, Multani,
Dogri, Kangri, Pahari, Majhi, Doabi, Malwai, Powadhi,
Bhattiani and Rathi. Although not all of Punjab is within the
boundaries of Pakistan, many of the above dialects are spoken there, as they
were brought with the millions of refugees coming into Pakistan to escape
persecution in India. These communities settled mainly within Pakistani Punjab
and have prospered. They proudly speak their dialects and have maintained them
on this side of the Punjabi border along with many of their traditions and
pretty way of life.
When interviewing Mr. Mohammad Ameen who is
the Senior headmaster of Cantt Board High School we asked him how important
Punjabi is for Pakistan and he stated that Punjab is the largest province of
Pakistan and Punjabi is its home tongue, Punjabi has a very sweet feel to it
but it has been highly neglected currently whereas in older times Punjabi
culture was the source of unity but these days people’s priorities and moral
values has changed.
The Punjabi language has always been a victim
of social, political and economic circumstances even before the partition of
United India.
There are only two daily newspapers published in
Punjabi in the Central areas of Punjab. Only a few monthly literary magazines
constitute Punjabi press in Pakistan. Yet, Punjabi has no
official status either in Pakistan or in West Punjab and is considered as a
dying language by 40% of the students aged below 25 who were part of our
questionnaire survey and 46% did not have any clue about its current status.
There are various reasons for that. Firstly being that Punjabi is not taught in Pakistani
schools but is widely spoken. The medium of teaching in
government and private schools in West Punjab is Urdu and, to a lesser extent,
English. There is not a single Punjabi medium school in Pakistan. Very sadly even though
this language is the main language of Pakistani public and is one of the oldest
languages in Indian subcontinent is not taught to Punjabi children in Schools
nor is the official language of any part of Pakistan. If we want to reclaim Punjabi language,
the first step is to provide it educational backing by teaching Punjabi as a
subject in schools in Punjab but even in
the questionnaire survey that we conducted only 11 out of 60 people agreed that
it should be a compulsory subject taught in schools whereas 15 strongly
disagreed and 20 had a neutral point of view to it.
Secondly, most 'educated'
parents think it is 'uncivilized' to talk to their children in Punjabi. Punjabi is considered to be a very low class
language. When we interviewed Mr. Mohammad Moeen Ameen he said, “Punjabi has
been confined to only the rural areas and people of Pakistan”. It’s the social attitude of people that
have associated Punjabi with informal and insignificant linguistic functions in
life. The language desertion phenomenon is so visible in Punjabi urban families
where parents speak with their children in Urdu and English, which are
considered to be prestigious languages.
Another weakening factor for Punjabi is
its low pragmatic value in terms of getting jobs on market, it is never used in any
official correspondence and it is considered 'crude' to talk in Punjabi to your
boss or colleagues, especially in the newer breed of private corporations.
This factor is strengthened, as Punjabi does not get any support from educational institutions. It is feared that a large number of families from Punjab would lose Punjabi language in a couple of generations. Mr Mohammad Ameen also stated that Punjabi shouldn’t be made the official language of Pakistan as it’s against the unity of Pakistani people, Punjabi is not even used in offices in terms of communicating with each other whereas urdu and English are highly preferred so urdu should be the official language of Pakistan.
This factor is strengthened, as Punjabi does not get any support from educational institutions. It is feared that a large number of families from Punjab would lose Punjabi language in a couple of generations. Mr Mohammad Ameen also stated that Punjabi shouldn’t be made the official language of Pakistan as it’s against the unity of Pakistani people, Punjabi is not even used in offices in terms of communicating with each other whereas urdu and English are highly preferred so urdu should be the official language of Pakistan.
Punjab Society has been
working on the improvement of Punjabi language for the past few years in London.
After consulting many Punjabi scholars and intellectuals,
the society has come up with a solution to write the language the way it is
spoken. Presently thousands and thousands of Punjabi words are written
different from the way they are spoken and by using this very simple method
Punjabi can be written just the way it sounds now.
The Punjab Society has obtained some web space and is very shortly putting all the ideas and solutions on the Internet. Any person interested in Punjabi writing would appreciate the work this non-profit making literary society based in England has done and has achieved the goal no body else has ever done before.
The Punjab Society has obtained some web space and is very shortly putting all the ideas and solutions on the Internet. Any person interested in Punjabi writing would appreciate the work this non-profit making literary society based in England has done and has achieved the goal no body else has ever done before.
Posts
Please sign this petition asking for equality for the Punjabi language: http://tinyurl.com/o3g3yeh
ReplyDelete