IT was interventions from outside forces that snatched their mother language from Punjabis. It wasn’t that Punjabi was the official language of Punjab. For better or for worse, it has never been the language of power and thus never played a repressive cultural role. But still it was a fully living language as it was used by people like air or water. It fulfilled all their communication needs.

On a higher level it was employed as a vehicle of diverse creative expressions by poets, writers, intellectuals, saints, gurus and performing artists. Above all, it expressed their evolved identity as a nation that had a history spanning over thousands of years. Opportunists and cultural freebooters would join the royal courts in search of freebies that were on offer. The short cut was to adopt the court language Persian for literary expression in the last millennium. It was a sort of quid pro quo; they would sing paeans to the royalty whitewashing their decadent refinement as the pinnacle of social and cultural glory and in return royals would dispense largesse to them. Such generosity in a way would necessitate further taxes on the peasantry and urban artisans.

A popular story reveals the painful relationship people had with Persian. A youth employed by his Mughal master comes back home and falls ill. In a fit of delirium he mumbles ‘aab, aab’ which in Persian means water. The mother being unacquainted with Persian fails to offer him water. The youth dies and mother after being told the meaning of ‘aab’ wails and laments: ‘aab aab kar moyun bachdra, farsian ghar gaalay (you died, my child, mumbling aab aab/ this Persian has ruined many a home)’. This little story, on the one hand, graphically describes how life becomes miserable in a culture created by the imposition of an alien language and on the other the self-destruction of those who internalise the alien linguistic hegemony.

Persian cultural and literary imperialism epitomised by Turks was replaced by the UK’s white colonialism in 1849 in Punjab. They imposed not one but two alien languages; English and Urdu. This imposition has been perpetuated by making English a sign of snobbery and Urdu a mark of Islamic identity. Urdu speaking immigrants and Punjabis are the major beneficiaries of such a policy. In the hands of the former whose mother tongue is Urdu, it is a tool of cultural hegemony and the latter employ it as a cover for their ideological machinations in the name of national unity while the real motive is to have easy access to the resources of other nationalities in the name of nation building.

The cultural colonisation of Punjab is so thorough that there is not even a modicum of awareness regarding the fact of being colonised. Rather the height of glory for Punjabis is to take pride in being remains of the colonialism.

The situation is so pathetic that on the International Mother Language Day last week barely a few hundred could gather to demand the denied rights of Punjabi language in Lahore, a city of 15 million. Only a miracle can save Punjabi, and if it happens at all it would be something external. We first saw a glimmer of such a miracle in the East Bengal (now independent Bangladesh) when they rightly rejected the minority language Urdu as a sole national language. Instead of putting some sense of reality in the mind of the Punjabis, it further dragged them into morass of political stupidity as they openly rejected the rights of Pakistani languages and came out in support of regressive ideological edifice built by short-sighted ruling clique. The opportunity was lost at the cost of country.

The year 1972 marked another milestone in the history of language politics when Sindh Assembly passed a law that made Sindhi the official language of Sindh. Urdu speakers in Karachi reacted violently by taking out a mock funeral of Urdu as a mark of protest. They declared it as the second biggest disaster after the collapse of Ottoman Caliphate. The law was revised later to assuage the fears of Urdu speakers. Urdu speakers till recent had more clout than their numbers dictated as they had a solid support of the country’s establishment.

A foolish but unsurprising reaction came from Punjabis. Students in Lahore took out a procession in support of Urdu, the so-called national language. They indirectly opposed the restoration of rights of Sindhi language. Thus second great opportunity was lost in the dust storm of unsustainable ideology that treated the cultural assets of the regions that constituted Pakistan as a threat. Surprisingly, what created this country came to be perceived as a force that could disintegrate it. The policies that led to its dismemberment were never revisited or rectified. They were in fact repeated ad infinitum.

Punjabis backed by Urdu speakers are responsible for the cultural destruction of this country. One can also justifiably lay the responsibility of dismemberment of the country on Punjabis and Urdu speakers.

The crux of the matter is that internal dynamics do not indicate any sign of support for the rights of Punjabi language appearing any time soon. Outside intervention in the form of cultural impetus can surely give us some hope. It can come from three sources; other regions of the country, East Punjab and diaspora.

Sindh is the leader in the language politics of the country. It can inspire Punjabis to change their linguistic orientation and get out of their cocoon of self-hate. Baloch and Pashtuns haven’t done much for the protection and promotion of their languages but they do speak their languages and have no inferiority complex regarding them. So they can still set an example for Punjabis to emulate.

Increased interaction with East Punjab can help the people this side of the border to overcome their alienation with their mother language. It has something concrete to offer by way of owning Punjabi and creating a large corpus of literature in it. Lastly, the people in our large diaspora too can influence the situation in the Punjab as their desire to keep their connection with their linguistic and cultural roots is strong.

In a nut shell, direct colonial interventions took our language away from us and now an indirect intervention by friendly forces may help us to get back the most precious asset we lost. — soofi01@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2024