Till last week, we were under the impression that Urdu was the national language of Pakistan, but the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has now shattered this myth. We all know vested interests have long been playing a key role in Urdu not becoming a bread earner in this country; which means keeping the monopoly of English to maintain the edge between rulers and their subjects. This September Court, in its landmark verdict, ordered the federal and provincial governments to take concrete actions to adopt Urdu as the official language. But when a professor from Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari Institute Karachi, Raees Alvi, informed the HEC that he would deliver his research paper in Urdu during the forthcoming 4th Islamic Countries Vice Chancellors Forum being hosted by Pakistan, he was not aware what an unusual demand he had made. After great reluctance, HEC has agreed to let him deliver the paper in Urdu provided he or his institute pay HEC Rs4 million for including Urdu as the 4thlanguage in the forum proceedings. Yes, there would be expense on translation, printing and live audio translation, but why should Professor Alvi or his institute arrange the funds? Is it not the HEC’s responsibility to let Urdu be one of the official languages at the forum? Mind you, this conference is being held in Pakistan; if the Pakistani government and Pakistanis will not honour their national language, then who else do we expect to? A civilisation thrives only when its language is alive; once it is gone, that civilisation becomes part of history.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arabia
