The Awami National Party (ANP) opposed in the Senate on Thursday the demand of some senators to declare Urdu the official language, saying Urdu was the language to communicate so there was no need to make it the official language. During a question-answer session in the Upper House of parliament, ANP leader Ilyas Bilour said only 6 percent of the people in Pakistan were Urdu speaking. “Urdu is the lingua franca so there is no need to declare it the official language,” he added.
Earlier, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid stalwart SM Zafar questioned why Urdu was not being declared the official language of Pakistan as stated in the constitution. Religious Affairs Minister Khursheed Ahmed Shah could not give a satisfactory answer to Zafar’s question, instead he said steps were being taken to institutionalise, promote and develop the Urdu language. Meanwhile, Shah said around seven million deserving people would be registered under the ongoing poverty survey from across the country. He said besides launching health and life insurance programmes for the registered beneficiaries, Rs 70 billion would be allocated to the assistance of the poor in the upcoming financial year.
In a written reply, Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim said 505,124 metric tones of dry fruit were exported during the last five years. He said the project for processing and drying of dates in Turbat, Khairpur and Dera Ismail Khan was underway. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl Senator Dr Khalid Soomro rejected the commerce minister’s claim and said no project for processing and drying of dates was underway in Khairpur.