Ans: National Language Urdu:
Urdu is the lingua franca and the national language of Pakistan. Urdu is
spoken and understood in all parts of the country, therefore no other
language except Urdu is capable of serving as a means of communication
between different parts of the country.
Writing System: All languages of Pakistan are written in the same script i.e
Arabic. These languages emanate from same sources. Under the impact of
Arabic and Persian languages most of the words in our regional languages
are common.
Official Status: Urdu has played an important role in the formation of South
Asia’s Muslim culture and served as a motive force in the Pakistan
movement Under a ruling passed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on
September 8, 2015, on the basis of clause 251(1) of the 1973 constitution,
Urdu should be adopted and implemented as off: language, the court further
ruled that provinces should adopt a clear policy about-regional languages.
Gradual Development of Urdu Language: The language now called
Urdu, was given different names through ages i.e. Hindvi and Hindustani.
Muhammad Bin Qasim conquered some parts of Sindh and Multan, he
established Muslim government in these areas and adopted Arabic as official
language. During the reign of Mehmood of Ghazna, Persian was the official
language of the state. Mughals were also Persian speaking by origin,
Persian was their court language. In Mughal cantonments, soldiers with
different linguistic backgrounds interacted and spoke with each other, in this
way a new language gradually developed, which was a mixture of the most
expressive words taken from different languages. This language came to be
known as Urdu. Urdu is a Turkish word for army encampment (lashkar). In
1835 the British adopted Urdu as official language, but after few years it was
replaced by English.
Role of Urdu in Pakistan Movement:
Urdu was spoken and understood in all parts of India and generally accepted
as the lingua franca, but extremist Hindus had a bias attitude against Urdu
so they started propagating that Urdu was a Muslim language. They
launched a campaign for the enforcement of Hindi as official language by
replacing Urdu and in 1876, known as Urdu-Hindi controversy.
Sir Sayyid devoted last years of his life for the defense of Urdu. In this way
preservation and promotion of Urdu become a core issue in the Indian
Muslims’ struggle for Pakistan. Creation of Pakistan was a landmark event
that determined Urdu’s fate as the language of a newly born nation.
The Quaid-e-Azam in his March 21, 1948 address, made it clear that Urdu
and only Urdu will be the national language of Pakistan, he quoted history
and said that no nation in the world can maintain its solidarity without a
national language of its own.
Urdu was adopted as national language under all constitutions so far
proclaimed in Pakistan. This is a language of general communication,
revenue, judiciary and police departments in the Punjab; use Urdu as their
official language at lower levels. Pakistan’s regional languages and cultures
have influenced Urdu in many ways and Pakistani Urdu has emerged to be a
more rich and more beautiful language.