The languages of Pakistan

The languages of Pakistan

A very nice post on Language Log about how the variety of languages in Pakistan have been suppressed, ostensibly to carve a single national identity. An interesting stat quoted there was that according to their 2001 census, Urdu is only the 6th most spoken language (presumably first language, as the %ages add up to 100%) of the top 7.

My perception based on what we see of Pakistani officialese, media coverage, and politicians-cricketers was that Urdu was the most spoken language, which means at least outside the country, the state-sponsored promotion has worked well.

As noted in this post ("napunsakalinguistics"), I know a few people who think Urdu is a preserve only of the muslim community and thus not meant for "us". If the Pakistani stats are true and if such a sentiment can be quantified, it can be further argued that Urdu belongs more to "us". Luckily, I also know people who have fallen in love with the language and have not shied from sharing this affection with me. Having recently obtained a nice Urdu dictionary and being able to finally make sense of some gems-é-"shayarii" and some Hindi film lyrics, I can only agree with their point of view.

One more down

One more down

That's a lot of Bhuttos wiped out in 28 years. Pretty sad for a country to have this sort of thing going on.

Staying (VISA) power

Staying (VISA) power

A storm in a pyaalaa: the Pakistani government is upset that one of its ministers has been denied a visa to watch the next India-Pakistan cricket match. The tiny fact that there's an emergency on at home seems not to have dampened the enthusiasm of the minister. Or this is just a routine act of mischief by the said minister, who's quite the figure in such matters. Strange are the ways of statecraft.

Mellow and Green

Just watching Pakistan complete an impressively mature win over Australia in the World Twenty20, it struck me that I'm no longer routinely anti-Pakistani as I used to be as a kid. Back then, when it came to sports, I would vigorously root for a Pakistani loss. Such a venom sometimes got in the way of seeing the quality of the likes of greats Imran and Wasim Akram. Of course, Javed and his kind didn't help matters :-)

I remember being bitterly disappointed when England were bundled out in the finals to a rampaging Pakistan, who were so lucky to get to the finals. It seemed they had the kind of luck that India never ever seemed to get (and still don't!). Getting our noses rubbed in the scorching sands of the Sharjah desert meant that I didn't quite miss not having cable television those days!

Things have changed. I can watch Pakistan play sport and appreciate their good performances. It was often conjectured, especially in the immediate post-Kargil atmosphere, whether more India-Pak matches would in fact assuage tensions. I don't know about that, but I attribute my own mellowing down to a larger vein of downplaying the impact of such sporting outcomes on my own life. So occasionally the adrenalin pumps at a close match, but on the whole, a certain detachment has helped.

The first time I can remember actually appreciating a Pakistani sporting performance was in the 1994 Hockey World Cup, where the men in green, led by the legendary Shahbaz Ahmed took the crown. Chak De Pakistan, perhaps.