An Essay on Urdu as a National Language

As we all know that Urdu language is one of the most popular languages of the world.
Urdu has been designated as a national and official language of Pakistan by Mohd. Ali Jinnah
in 1948. The fact is that for about 90% of the population Urdu is a second language but is
spoken or rather understood in all the corners of the nation thus making it lingua franca of
Pakistan. I am trying to propagate the use of Urdu as National, Educational and Official
language of the country. All the education starting from lower class to PhD should be taught
in Urdu. We are sure this can be done as proved by Osmania University of Hyderabad Deccan
where even the mathematics was taught in Urdu and even terms like Sine, cosine & Tangent
were replaced with Urdu terms; oppose to the practice in Pakistan where an English word is
written in Urdu script and called Urdu. We know that this effort is resisted by the 1%
Pakistanis who prosper by keeping a divide of Upper and Lower class in the society. Most of
these people and their families are in tuned with western values and countries. These people
are still mentally and habitually slaves of the Imperial masters, and have not embraced the
liberation and the eviction of Britishers from our land. Moreover this 1% group of upper class
wants to keep this divide because they benefit from keeping this class system.
For a nation to progress a single language for all communications either it be education,
government, judiciary is essential.
Pakistan has a big advantage that Urdu is acceptable to most of the people oppose to
English. On the other hand India has a disadvantage in adopting a National language though
she claimed it to be Hindi. In the south Hindi is not spoken or understood and is considered
the language of arrogant North. In Pakistan English becomes the third language for most of
the Pakistanis and it becomes very difficult to express and understand. That is why a
Pakistani or rather any Pakistani cannot speak or write any one language correctly and it is a
shame that a nation does not have a language of its own. When Mohd ali Jinnah declared
Urdu to be official and national language of Pakistan there was a big opposition from East
Pakistan and now even that factor does not exist.

There is a notion forced into common public by the so called elite that to progress you have
to learn English and for sake of argument if you believe that then it means that ideally to
make the whole population literate we will have to teach English language to 18 crore
people? Or would it be easier to hire at the most 20,000 people to translate the books and
information
into
Urdu
and
it
will
be
available
to
all.
In most countries of the world, learning content in a foreign language seems odd. Nearly all
countries in Europe, Asia, and Latin America teach in their national languages. There are
hundreds of countries in the world or rather most of the countries who use their local
language for all sectors, to name a few, China, Germany, France, Bosnia, Kosovo, Albania,
USA, UK, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and even Thailand (one
of the most complicated language) etc. They might offer English or any other foreign
language as an option at University level if somebody wants to further their studies in a
foreign country.

The irony of our nation is that we do not remember a stanza of poem of either Iqbal or
Shakespeare. This was recently proved by a study done at the parliament house of Pakistan.
Isnt it shameful that after 65 years of evicting the enemy the so called educated of our
country are still un-educated. This creed of people is also away from Islamic education as we
have seen in the case of Interior minister of Islm Jumhriya- Pkistn.
Below I am going to discuss pros and cons about keeping English or transforming to Urdu.
This exercise I am doing to honestly see what is good for Pakistan and its Pakistanis
Points Why Urdu Should be our National Language?

1. Urdu is understood by all almost Pakistanis and spoken by most Pakistanis.

2. Urdu is understood, spoken, read & written by all Pakistanis who are literate in Pakistan
3. People can express themselves comfortably in Urdu oppose to English
4. It is easier to translate material in Urdu than teaching everybody English. A few thousand
people can translate the books and information into Urdu and it will be available to all 18
Crore
inhabitants.
5. Translation to Urdu can be done from any language and will not only be restricted to
English
6. The foreign language also brings the foreign hostile culture into the society and replaces a
culture
which
existed
for
hundreds
of
years.
7. It creates the class system which is only beneficial to the upper class.
8. It will give Pakistanis a language to express and understand, which cannot be achieved by
keeping
English
as
a
language
of
medium
9. In our education system we should make Arabic compulsory from primary school. As
Arabic is our religious language and we use it daily in our Namaz & Quran and is also spoken
in almost 30 countries with which we are traditionally linked and we do commerce with them
and
where
largest
Pakistani
workers
force
is
employed.
10. There are only a few countries whose language is English and on top of that those
countries benefit from us more than we benefit from them. We have an advantage to acquire
technical terms from Arabic or Farsi in case we do not have that term already.
11. If English is used for higher studies in Pakistan, it will restrict Higher Education outside
Pakistan to English speaking countries only; on the contrary if Urdu is the language of higher
education in Pakistan a student can choose any foreign country to further his or her education.
12. A student is shy to ask a question in English or find it hard to identify words in English
language while they communicate among themselves in Urdu and learn in English
13. It creates a big confusion in choosing words while communicating as we acquire
education in English and speaks Urdu; we are not expressive in any of these languages and it
is
a
shame.
14. A brain drain will not occur if the educational language is Urdu. Our govt. spends and
subsidizes the higher education and the professional leaves the country to serve another
country.
And
this
is
what
these
upper
class
families
want.
15. I live in North America for past 40 years and my observation is that people who come to

USA from countries where they were not taught English speaks better English and learn very
fast. A German student was my roommate who did not know any English word before he
came to USA to do his PhD in certain field. He learnt the language and completed his
education
16. Another thing what I observed about people coming from Pakistan or India is that they
could never fully speak English properly and in the local accent because while in their
countries they never used a single language to express themselves so they do not know how
to form sentences and gather their thoughts. Moreover their accent is very bad and cannot be
changed
at
this
age.
17. Will give self confidence to the public, students, politicians and judges across the country
18. It does not matter how good one is in a foreign language he or she is always comfortable
in his own language.

19. Only one point is enough to convince the adoption of Urdu in all aspects of life. Urdu is
understood and spoken by almost everyone the only thing they have to learn is to read and
write. For English they have to learn to write, read, speak and understand and no place to put
it into practice.

20. All the sign boards should be in Urdu and should not be confused by mixing another
language.
21. Everybody who can read English in Pakistan can also read Urdu but everybody who can
read Urdu does not necessarily can read and understand English. Isnt this reason enough for
all the businesses to advertise in Urdu which will cover larger segment of consumers then
why businesses advertise in English is to just keep the slaves and slave mentality alive and
show that English language is superior.

22. When one follows somebody he is always behind him; the only way one can surpass
somebody
is
to
not
follow
him
and
find
your
own
course.
23. If we adapt Urdu as our education language it will help us to reduce illiteracy with a
relatively faster rate

24. Urdu medium education will also make the education cheaper and affordable.
25. Urdu can be taught in Masjids to younger kids when they are learning Arabic. This can
eliminate illiteracy in a very few years and prepare them for formal education and
accommodate them in the school system.

26. If everybody will communicate and correspond in Urdu this will reduce the difference
between the existing social levels. Thus giving confidence and self respect to the so called
lower
sectors
of
population
who
are
in
majority.

27. There was a study conducted in many countries of the world by The Education
department of World Bank called In Their Own LanguageEducation for All ..
http://siteresources.worldbank.org//EdNotes_Lang_of_Instru Following are some
excerpts from that Report:

Fifty percent of the worlds out-of-school children live in communities where the
language of schooling, is not the language spoken at home.

That children learn better if they understand the language spoken in school would
seem an obvious observationand indeed, it is borne out by study after study.

Research provides convincing evidence that a second language is learned best when a
first language is learned well.

Socio-cultural benefits. The use of local languages for instruction often leads to
inclusion of more local content in the curriculum and greater participation of parents
and community members as classroom resources. Parents are better positioned to
become involved in the school and to feel that their knowledge and their culture are
valued.

The legitimization of local languages that comes from their use in schooling can
strengthen childrens, families and communities sense of inclusion in schooling.

The use of local languages in formal education has a positive impact on adult literacy
as well. As parents see their children successfully learn to read and write in their own
language, the parents are often motivated to attend literacy classes as well.

The use of first languages as languages of instruction can contribute to the attainment
of EFA (Education Financial Aid) goals and should be a part of the World Banks
dialogue with educators and policy-makers.

If
It
Works
So
Well,
Why
Isnt
Everyone
Doing
It?
The World Bank Report proves the points which we discussed above. I am not sure if
any study like this is done in our country, we normally do not do these kinds of things
and rely on the outside world.

28. Generally children learn faster if education is conducted in a familiar language.

29. Local languages promote comprehension, accuracy of expression, interest in nature
around and increases appreciation of culture, which is important for ones identity.
30. Local languages are a tool for socialization that helps to shape peoples compatibility
with the environment around them. This enhances the participatory methods used in the

classroom like group participation skills that are effective in achieving learning.
31. Local languages create confidence in ones language. This forms the basis for learning
other languages. The people who went to school in the 1960s and used this system have a
better command of the first and second languages because of this background.
32. Local languages are a basis for the formation of an integral part of the philosophy of
an individual, which is an important factor for future learning of social studies and other
humanities
33. Local languages are a bridge between the home and school learning. This enhances
the philosophy of teaching from the known to unknown. This helps the child to relate
what
is
at
home
to
what
is
learnt
at
school.
34. UNESCO encourages countries to use local languages for education. But pupils and
parents of upper class seem to believe that education in English, French or other foreign
language, rather than a mother tongue, will give them the upper hand in schooling and the
job market.

35. A United Nations official said in one of the African countries:

He said not only did this intimidate and confuse children entering school for the first
time, but also made it difficult for them to understand, or grasp new concepts being
introduced
to
them
during
the
course
of
education.
This is the reality for millions of children across rural Africa. They are not immigrants
who have moved into a new country where they have to learn a foreign language: they are
at home, but the national education language is not one that they master at a young age. It
adds a whole level of complexity that simply is not needed.
36.
Another
study
in
Namibia
in
collaboration
with
UNESCO
Based on classroom observational studies conducted in several African countries both
researchers argued that, as Brock-Utne stated: Learners learn better if they understand the
medium of instruction. As a fact many African learners dont understand it. The use of
unfamiliar languages forces teachers to use ineffective and teacher-centered teaching methods
which undermine the teachers effort to teach and students effort to learn. Teachers do most
of the talking while children remain silent or passive participants during most of the
classroom interactions. Because children do not speak the language of instruction, teachers
are forced to use ineffective teaching techniques such as chorus teaching, repetition,
memorization, recall, code switching and safe talk. The situation described accounts largely
to the school ineffectiveness and low academic achievement experienced by pupils in Africa.
In countries and schools where languages used as medium of instructions are familiar to the
learners, studies indicate that teachers and learners show real interaction and communication
resulting
in
an
overall
better
performance.
But somehow all but the best among the poor fail. Why is that? Here are some reasons:

We learn languages through personal interaction. Our mind is set up to learn not from a
single speaker (the teacher) broadcasting to everyone but from people speaking to each other.

Thus, the same children who know too few English words to learn science may sell
merchandise
using
local
languages.
The better our vocabulary in one language, the easier it will be to learn more in another. Our
knowledge is classified in intricate networks. If we already have a concept (e.g. justice) we
can easily attach a new label to it. If the concept does not exist, a new item must open, and
when these new items are too many, learning slows down. The more we know the easier it
becomes to hook new items, so bilingualism is additive. But if students know too little of
their own language, burdening them with a whole new set that is broadcast by one teacher
may create subtractive bilingualism; students end up not knowing any language very well.
The poor have smaller vocabularies than the better off in their languages. Somehow schools
should help them catch up, and students ought to be learning 2000-3000 words per year in
English, French, or Portuguese. However, many African schools teach in fact for only about 2
hours a day. So an American 5thgrader may know 40,000 words and lemmas, but African
students may only know 1000 and thus lack the vocabulary to discuss science.
The formal languages used in Africa (English, French, Portuguese) have complex spelling.
To teach reading in them requires vocabulary, sight words, and prediction skills. Even for
native speakers, English instruction in reading has a three-year horizon.
Surely more research is needed on the childrens command of local languages. But it seems
at this point that a consistently spelled language taught at a time when children still learn
languages may address the logistical difficulties of teaching in all languages. One small study
lends support to this hypothesis. Pulaar-speaking children in Cameroon scored higher in
English and math after they had studied in a Kom language school than Pulaar speakers
studying directly in English.
37. As a side note, but very important that Pakistani Schools should start Quranic education
from class 8th and should complete by 10th class. Quran translation in Urdu should be in the
curriculum. Students should be asked to read the Arabic text in their home a night before (to
satisfy those pundits who insist on reading Quran in Arabic before reading the translation)
and the Urdu translation and only translation without getting into TAFSEER should be part of
the classroom. This way by the time student completes his Matriculation he has completed
the Quran with the meanings. This will have a very positive impact on the society as whole
and youngsters will not be influenced by wrong interpretation of Quran done by some people
to their advantage; they will have a FAHM of the Quran; thus becoming a true and pious
Muslim. Students read novels and thick text books anyway as part of their course about
personalities like Abraham Lincoln or Karl Marx, which has no significance in our society,
especially if compared to the word of Allah or our Prophet (PBUH)
38. As Urdu will be the medium of education and Business and communication; there might
be instances where there might not be word in Urdu either for a product or expression. In this
case the word should be searched in local languages of Pakistan and in case of not finding the
word; it can be adopted from a foreign language. However in this case the foreign word
should first be searched in language with the same RASM UL KHAT i.e. Farsi or Arabic and
after exhausting this search one can look to other languages and this should be adopted in
Urdu with new Urdu pronunciation.

39. If we want to follow say USA and become more progressive then we should follow their
method of education which is conducted in their own local language. It means that all
progressive countries became modern and educated by using their own local language. This
gives us enough reason to adapt Urdu as a language in all segments of life.