RECENTLY, I had the opportunity to meet a six-year-old boy in my extended famly. He was studying in a renowned school of Lahore. While talking to him, I realised he could speak English rather fluently. But when I asked him something in Urdu, he was unable to answer me. His utter disco-nnect with Urdu was more annoying than surprising. Urdu, being our national language, is in a state of struggle to survive. Most of our youth consider speaking Urdu as a symbol of being illiterate or belonging to a ‘lower class’.

No doubt, English is an international language, but, like in other countries where people celebrate their own national language, Urdu should be recognised as the official language in the real sense. That is how we can preserve our language and our identity by celebrating it at the state level. We need to keep our children as close as possible to our culture and legacy.

Fizzah Kafeel
Lahore

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2024