Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T08:09:08.309Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Urdu —English Controversy in Pakistan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Tariq Rahman
Affiliation:
National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University

Extract

Pakistan is an ideologically inspired state and Urdu was a part of this ideology. During the development of Muslim separatism in British India it had become a symbol of Muslim identity and was the chief rival of Hindi, the symbol of Hindu identity (Brass, 1974: 119–81. Thus, after partition it was not surprising that the Muslim polemical and methodologically unreliable books. Some of them are, indeed, part of the pro-Urdu campaign by such official institutions as the National Language Authority, because of which they articulate only the official language policy (Kamran, 1992). Other books, especially by supporters of Urdu, invoke simplistic conspiracy theories for explaining the opposition to Urdu. One of them is that the elitist supporters of English have always conspired to protect it in their self-interest; the other that ethno-nationalists, supported by foreign governments, communists and anti-state agents, oppose Urdu (Abdullah, 1976; Barelvi 1987). While such assertions may be partly true, the defect of the publications is that no proof is offered in support of them.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbas, Shameem. 1993. ‘The Power of English in Pakistan’, World Englishes 12: 2, 145–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abdullah, Syed. 1976. Pakistan Mē Urdu Kā Maslā [Urdu: The Problem of Urdu in Pakistan]. Lahore: Khaiābān-ē-Adab.Google Scholar
ABE, . 1948. The Advisory Board of Ēducation: First Meeting 7–9 June 1948. Karachi: Manager of Publications, Ministry of Education.Google Scholar
ABE, . 1949. The Advisory Board of Education: Second Meeting 7–9 Feb. 1949. Karachi: (as above).Google Scholar
ABE, . 1955. Proceedings of the Fifth Meeting of the Advisory Board of Education, 4–5th March 3. Karachi: (as above).Google Scholar
ABE, . 1958. Proceedings of the Seventh Meeting of the Advisory Board of Education, 27–29 Jan. 1958. Karachi: (as above).Google Scholar
Adil, Mukhtar. 1962. ‘Sindh Kī Daēri’ [Urdu: The Diary of Sindh], Jang, 17 Oct.Google Scholar
Ahmad, Salahuddin. n.d. ‘Hamārē Bachcho kī Ālā, IbtidTaleem ka Maslā’ [Urdu: The Problem of Our Children's Higher and Basic Education]. In Zulfiqar and Akhtar, 1986: 284–96.Google Scholar
Ahmad, Salahuddin. 1989. ‘Hamārī Qaomī Zabān aor us kā Rasmul Khat [Urdu: Our National Language and Its Script]. In Majeed, 1989: 253–62.Google Scholar
Ahmad, Saleem. 1968. ‘Oluh Pakistan Mē Bolț Jo Maslo’ [Sindhi: The Problem of Languages in West Pakistan]. Khairpur: Privately published.Google Scholar
Ahmad, Saleem. 1987. ‘What We May Lose with English’, Muslim, 7 March.Google Scholar
Ahmad, Zahoor. 1971. ‘Urdu aor Sindhi Dono Hamārī Zabanefi Haeft’ [Urdu: Urdu and Sindhi Are Both Our Languages], Jasārat, 30 Jan.Google Scholar
Ahmed, Aijaz. 1983. ‘Democracy and Dictatorship'. In Gardezi and Rashid, 1985: 94147.Google Scholar
Ahmed, Yunus. 1987. ‘Will Urdu Attain Its Rightful Place?’, MN, 22 May.Google Scholar
Akhtar, Bashir M., Rahman, Khalid ur, and Syed, Muttaqeen ur (eds). 1986. Qaomī Zabān Akhbārāt Kē Ainē Mē [Urdu: The National Language as Reflected in the Press]. Islamabad: Muqtadrā Qaomī Zabān.Google Scholar
Ali, Tariq. 1983. Can Pakistan Survive? The Death of a State. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Amin, Tahir. 1988. Ethno-National Movements of Pakistan: Domestic and International Factors. Islamabad: Institute of Policy Studies.Google Scholar
Amjad, Yakub. 1984. ‘Ēk Qaomī Zabān Kā Maslā’ [Urdu: The Problem of One National Language], Jang, 14 March.Google Scholar
Azzam, Salem (ed.). 1990. Shaheed id Islam Muhammad Zia ul Hag. London: Indus Thames Publications.Google Scholar
Banuazizi, Ali, and Weiner, Myron (eds). 1987. The State, Religion and Ethnic Politics: Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. Lahore: Vanguard.Google Scholar
Barelvi, Mustafa A. 1987. ‘Subā-ē-Sindtalīmī hālat aor hamārē lisānī massaēl’ [Urdu: The Educational Condition of the Province of Sind and Our Language Problems]. Unpublished typescript.Google Scholar
Barelvi, Mustafa A. 1989. ‘Zabān aor Rasmul Khat’ [Urdu: Language and Script]. In Majeed, 1989: 209–18.Google Scholar
Bhutto, Abu A. 1971. ‘Sind mēñ jhigrē kā sabab’ [Urdu: The Cause of Conflict in Sind], Jasārat, 16 Feb.Google Scholar
Bombwall, K. R. 1989. ‘Political Change in Pakistan’. In Dharamdasan, 1989: 195–203.Google Scholar
Braibanti, Ralph. 1966. Asian Bureaucratic Systems Emerged from the British Imperial Tradition. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Braibanti, Ralph. 1987. Evolution of Pakistan's Administrative System, ed. Khan, Jameel ur Rahman. Islamabad: Pakistan Public Administration Research Centre, O‘‘‘The Rural Roots of Pakistani Militarism’. In Low, 1991: 255–83.Google Scholar
Dharamdasan, M. D. (ed.). 1989. Benazir's Pakistan. Prafulla, Nagar; Varanasi: Shalimar Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Durrani, Atash. 1993. Urdu Istalahāt Nigārī [Urdu: The Making of Technical Terms in Urdu]. Islamabad. Muqtadrā Qaomī Zabān.Google Scholar
Farooqi, Nasir A. 1961. Faces of Love and Death. Lahore: Privately published.Google Scholar
Fishman, Joshua. 1972. Language and Nationalism: Two Integrative Essays. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Gardezi, Hasan, and Rashid, Jamil (eds). 1983. Pakistan: The Roots of Dictatorship: The Political Economy of a Praetorian State. London: Zed Press.Google Scholar
Gilani, Ijaz Shafi, and Rehman, S. M. 1986. The Language Question: Public Attitudes on Language of Education and Employment. Rawalpindi: Gallup Pakistan& Muqtadrā Qaomī Zabān.Google Scholar
Goodnow, Henry F. 1969. The Civil Service of Pakistan: Bureaucracy in a New Nation. Karachi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Harrison, Selig S. 1987. ‘Ethnicity and the Political Stalemate in Pakistan’. In Banuazizi and Weiner, 1987: 267–98.Google Scholar
Hussain, Asaf. 1979. Elite Politics in an Ideological State: The Case of Pakistan. Folkestone, Kent: Wm Dowson & Sons.Google Scholar
Hussaini, Yusuf B. 1989. ‘Akhir Angrēzī he kyū’ [Urdu: Why English After All?], Jasārat, 1 July.Google Scholar
Imam, Hina F. 1987. ‘English Language and Our Self Interest’, Nation, 22 Sept.Google Scholar
Jafri, Zamir. 1983. ‘Koh-ē-Namak kā Meetha Pānī’ [Urdu: The Sweet Water of the Salt Range], Urdu Digest, Vol. 23: no. 1 (Jan.), 6572.Google Scholar
Jahan, Rounaq. 1972. Pakistan: Failure in National Integration. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jalibi, Jamil (ed.). 1993. Pakistan Mē Zariā-ē-Tālīm Kā Masla [Urdu: The Problem of the Medium of Instruction in Pakistan]. Islamabad: Muqtadra Qaomī Zabān.Google Scholar
Jinnah, M. A. 1948. ‘National Consolidation: Speech at a Public Meeting at Dacca, 21 Mar. 1948’. In Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad AH finnah: Speeches and Statements as Governor General of Pakistan 1947–48. Islamabad: Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, 1989: 175–87.Google Scholar
Kachru, Braj B. 1986. The Alchemy of English: The Spread, Functions and Models of Non-Native Englishes. Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Kammi, Saeed F. 1988. Punjābī Zabān Nahī Marē Gī [Urdu: The Punjabi Language Will Not Die]. Jhelum: Majidia Maktab.Google Scholar
Kamran, Jilani. 1992. QaomiatTashkīl aor Urdu Zabān [Urdu: Nationalism and the Urdu Language]. Islamabad: Muqtadra Qaomī Zabān.Google Scholar
Kashmiri, Shorish. 1971. ‘Lisānī Jhigrā’ [Urdu: Language Conflict], Jasarat, 19 Feb.Google Scholar
Kennedy, Charles H. 1987. Bureaucracy in Pakistan. Karachi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Khan, Ayub. 1967. Friends Not Masters: A Political Biography. Karachi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Khan, Iqbal. 1991. ‘Open Letter to the Federal Education Minister on Education’, Frontier Post (Mag.), 18 Jan.Google Scholar
Krishna, Gopal (ed.). 1979. Contributions to South Asian Studies. Delhi.Google Scholar
La, Porte Robert. 1975. Power and Privilege: Influence and Decision-Making in Pakistan. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Low, D. A. (ed.). 1991. The Political Inheritance of Pakistan. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Majeed, Sheema (ed.). 1989. Urdu Rasmul Khat [Urdu: The Urdu Script]. Islamabad: Muqtadra QaomI Zaban.Google Scholar
Malick, Qayyum. 1981. ‘English! English! English!’, Dawn, 19 Jan.Google Scholar
Malik, Sajjad H. 1992. ‘Status of English in Pakistan’, Pakistan Times, 3 Jan.Google Scholar
Manekar, D. R. 1971. Pak Colonialism in East Bengal. Delhi.Google Scholar
Mansoor, Sabiha. 1992. ‘Explorations of the Linguistic Attitudes of Pakistan Students’. Unpublished M.A. dissertation, University of Reading.Google Scholar
Matheson, Sylvia A. 1967. The Tigers of Baluchistan. London: Arthur Barker Ltd.Google Scholar
Mills, C. Wright. 1956. The Power Elite. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mirza, Manzoor. 1991. ‘Going All Out for Urdu’, FP, 18 Feb.Google Scholar
Mosca, G. 1939. The Ruling Class. New York: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Murshid, Tazeen M. 1985. ‘The Bengal Muslim Intelligentsia, 1937–77, The Tension Between the Religious and the Secular’. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Oxford.Google Scholar
NAP [date in the text]. National Assembly of Pakistan: Debates. Islamabad: Government of Pakistan.Google Scholar
NEP. 1970. The New Education Policy. Islamabad: Ministry of Education & Scientific Research, Government of Pakistan.Google Scholar
Pareto, V. 1935. The Mind and Society. New York: Harcourt-Brace.Google Scholar
Parry, Geraint. 1969. Political Elites. London: George Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
PEC. 1948. Pakistan Educational Conference, Karachi 27 Nov.-i Dec. 1947. Karachi: Govrnment of Pakistan.Google Scholar
Piracha, A. Halim. 1970. ‘Pakistan kā Lisānī Maslā—2’, Jang, 11 Nov.Google Scholar
PNEP. 1969. Proposals for a New Educational Policy. Islamabad: Ministry of Education & Scientific Research.Google Scholar
Rahman, Khan A. n.d. ‘Urdu Mē Science Kī Tadrīs’ [Urdu: The Teaching of Science in Urdu]. In Zulfikar and Akhtar, 1986: 276–83.Google Scholar
RCSp. 1966. Report of the Commission on Student Problems and Welfare: Summary of Important Observations and Recommendations. Islamabad: Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Education, Central Bureau of Education.Google Scholar
Resolution. 1979. ‘Resolution No. 275/CF/79 Ordering the Establishment of a ational Language Authority, 4 Oct.’ Islamabad: Cabinet Division, Government of Pakistan.Google Scholar
Sabir, Ayub. 1985. Pakistan Mē Urdu Kē Taraqiātī Idārē [Urdu: The Institutions for the Development of Urdu in Pakistan]. Islamabad: Muqtadra QaomI Zaban.Google Scholar
Saleem, Syed M. 1989. ‘English Talīm: Sāzish’ [Urdu: English as Contemporary Medium of Instruction: Dangerous Conspiracy], Jasārat, 19 May.Google Scholar
Sarmadi, Bedar. 1990. ‘Zariā-ē-Tālīm Urdu yā Angrēzī: Vafāqī Secrētrio Kē Kārnāmē’ [Urdu: Medium of Instruction, English or Urdu? The Achievements of Federal Secretaries], Aman, 16 Jan.Google Scholar
Sayeed, Khalid Bin. 1968. Pakistan: The Formative Phase. Karachi, 1960; London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Shackle, Christopher. 1970. ‘Punjabi in Lahore’, Modern Asian Studies 4, 239–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shackle, Christopher. 1979. ‘Language and Cultural Identity in Pakistan Punjab’. In Krishna, G. (ed.), 1979: 137–60.Google Scholar
Shackle, Christopher. 1985. ‘Language, Dialect and Local Identity in Northern Pakistan’. In Zingel and Lallement (eds), 1985: 311–33.Google Scholar
Talpur, M. Yusuf. 1969. A Memorandum on Proposals for a New Educational Policy and Sindhi Language. Hyderabad: J. Sind Naujawan Mahaz Publication 3, November.Google Scholar
UGC. 1982. Report on the Teaching of Languages. Islamabad: Government of Pakistan, University Grants Commission.Google Scholar
Umar, B. 1979. Purbū banglar bhasa andolan 0 tatkdlin rajniti [Bangla: Language Movement and Contemporary Politics in East Bengal], Vol. 1, revised ed. Dacca, pp. 1819. In Murshid, 1985: 234–5.Google Scholar
USB. 1984. Farhang Istalāhāt [Urdu: A Glossary of Terms], 3 vols. Lahore: Urdu Science Board.Google Scholar
Wolpert, Stanley. 1993. Zulfi Bhutto of Pakistan: His Life and Times. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Wp. 1979. White Paper on the Performance of the Bhutto Regime: Mr. Z. A. Bhutto, His Family and Associates, Vol. 1. Islamabad: Government of Pakistan.Google Scholar
Wp. White Paper on the Performance of the Bhutto Regime: Treatment of Fundamental State Institutions, Vol. 2. Islamabad: Government of Pakistan.Google Scholar
Wp. White Paper on the Performance of the Bhutto Regime: Misuse of the Instruments of State Powers, Vol. 3. Islamabad: Government of Pakistan.Google Scholar
Wp. 1978. White Paper on the Misuse of Media (Dec. 20, 1971–July 4, 1977). Islamabad: Government of Pakistan.Google Scholar
Zaman, Fakhar, Qaiser, Iqbal, and Ahmad, Hameed (eds). 1988. Almi Punjabi Conference 1986 [Punjabi: World Punjabi Conference]. Lahore: Classic.Google Scholar
Zingel, W. P., and Lallement, S. Z. A. 1985. Pakistan in the 80's: Ideology, Regionalism, Economy, Foreign Policy. Lahore: Vanguard.Google Scholar
Zulfiqar, Ghulam H., and Akhtar, Naseem (eds). 1986. Qaumī Zabān Kē Bārē Mē Ahem Dastāvēzāt, Vol. 2, part 1. Islamabad: Muqtadra QaomI Zaban.Google Scholar