The Youth Blog

How to Kill A Language: Punjabi in Pakistan

• Maryam Azhar
• July 11, 2023August 9, 2023
• 11

I’m a 24 year old Punjabi who is unable to speak the language, and I’m not the only one. Most of my Punjabi friends don’t know how to speak it either. Or at least not properly.

According to the 2017 census, Punjabis made up for approximately 53% of the total population of Pakistan [1]. However, the percentage of people who declared ‘Punjabi’ as their first language in the census has actually decreased over the years. There are demographic differences in this trend though- it is higher in urban, educated, elite circles than elsewhere – but it is still remains a reality. The bottom-line remains that a number of people are disassociating themselves from Punjabi.

The death of any language marks the end to a treasure of history and culture. It is unfortunate to see a language as rich and historically significant as Punjabi going down that road slowly. A language spoken by millions around the world for centuries cannot go extinct out of the blue. It is a long and slow process, a few features of which are described below:

1. Association of Urdu and English with the Elite Class:

‘Class-consciousness’ remains a very real issue in Pakistan. People across the country try to imitate the ‘elites’ in all aspects of life. Language is no different. During the independence movement, Urdu largely remained associated with the ‘Muslim’ identity. More so, it was the language spoken by the leaders and other influential people.

It remained the case after the creation of Pakistan as well, when Urdu was made the national language despite the numerical strength of both Bengali and Punjabi, in order to promote a sense of national unity. Since Punjab has largely remained the centre of power in the country, the ‘nationalisation’ process was always led through the province. The result has largely been diminishing strength of Punjabi culture.

Moreover, Urdu was spoken by the educated, influential decision-makers, along with English. In order to associate themselves with the elite, a number of Punjabis shifted towards these languages, especially in their homes. The result was a generation of Punjabi kids that never got Punjabi as their “mother tongue”

Punjabi, on the other hand, is now unfortunately associated with backwardness, often described as ‘paindu’ (relating to the rural areas) by the ‘modern’ Punjabis. This is not the case in Sindh, Baluchistan and KPK, where people still prefer to communicate in their native language.

2. Systematic Removal of Punjabi from the Mainstream:

The Constitution of Pakistan allows provinces to provide education in regional languages. In fact, there is an ongoing major debate worldwide on whether teaching children in their mother-tongue leads to more effective learning. However, in Pakistani Punjab, Punjabi is banned as a medium of instruction in schools. Lahore High Court’s direction to put the “Punjab Promotion of Mother Tongue Act” bill before the cabinet has still not been acted upon. Schools are major means of language preservation, but like households, here too, children are being alienated from Punjabi.

Schools aren’t the only institute leading to the systematic erasure of Punjabi among the population. There is a ban on speaking Punjabi in the Punjab Assembly. Moreover, unlike other regional languages like Sindhi and Pashto that have their newspapers and magazines, there is no Punjabi newspaper in circulation. Attempts made by intellectuals failed to create an impact as the government and private investors refused to release funds and advertisements.

In isolation, these cannot lead to the extinction of a language. However, when seen along with the prevalent inferiority complex and decrease in ownership of the language, the systematic removal of Punjabi paves the path towards a slow death in a few decades.

3. Reduction to Humor:

Punjabi people and the language gets a lot of ‘representation’ in desi media. However, there is a certain stereotype attached to a majority of the Punjabis in media. Bollywood movies (and a majority of Lollywood movies as well) largely use Punjabi language as a humor tactic. The Punjabi characters – or large, loud families – are used to create noise and comic effect in the movies. Although there is nothing wrong with showing the joyous aspect of of a language, but it becomes an issue when the language is reduced only to that.

Punjabi – like all languages – expresses more than just humor. It is a language that is rich and profound in its expressions and themes. Punjabi has historically been the language of saints, philosophers, poets, romance and heroics. There is much more to the language than just humor. When you take away all the other aspects of the language, you’re essentially erasing a major part of it.

4. Inadequacy of Recent Literature :

Literature keeps a language alive. Novels, poetry, magazines – all of these things are necessary for a language to stay relevant amongst people. Classical Punjabi literature continues to stay alive to this date. Folklore stories like Waris Shah’s Heer Ranjha and Bulleh Shah’s poetry are still used as reference points in conversations and art. But in recent years, both the quantity and quality of Punjabi literature has gone down.

There have been personalities like Anwar Masood, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Ahmad Salim who have been making efforts to keep Punjabi alive. However, the quantity of Punjabi literature pales in comparison to the overall amount of literature that has been created over the past decades.

Literature does not only preserve the language, but also stories, emotions and perspectives of the people it belongs to. With the reduced focus on Punjabi literature, we are depriving the future generations from a Punjabi lens of events that are unfolding.

Conclusion:

This is by no means an exhaustive list. A number of historical, political and demographic factors have led to an overall decline in the use of Punjabi within masses. This article also does not intend to imply that Punjabi will be a dead language in the coming years – it won’t. It is still the means of communication between the millions residing in rural Punjab, and also the elderly across Pakistan.

However, it remains equally true that there is a shift away from the language. Punjabis, whenever given the chance, choose to speak in Urdu or English. During my 4 years of studying in a university in Punjab, never once did I talk to any of my friends in Punjabi. This remains especially relevant amongst females, making the extinction of Punjabi even more probable, because when mothers don’t speak a language at home, the children are less likely to be comfortable with it.

The loss of every language is an unfortunate event. Languages carry within themselves a treasure of history, wisdom, stories and teachings. No translation of the original text can ever do justice. Punjabi language can be traced back to approximately the 11th century. It has survived centuries of religious, political and social developments. The loss of Punjabi will ultimately be a loss of this rich culture and tradition.

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References:

[1] https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/2022-04/population_Census_2017_Results.pdf

^{The author is a Management Sciences graduate from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and an aspiring civil servant with a knack for writing}.