Table of Contents
In Pakistan, the English language occupies an unusual and sometimes contentious position. Globally, English is widely recognized as a universal tool for communication, allowing people from different parts of the world to understand one another. However, in Pakistan, it is not ‘that’ simple as all the other things. We have a love-hate relationship with English.
In this article the principal questions many Pakistanis have in their mind will get answered:
- Is speaking or writing in English wrong?
- Should we embrace learning English (or completely reject it), or can we thrive using Urdu alone?
- Why is language such a significant issue in Pakistan, while the rest of the world seems to handle it differently?
In many parts of the world, people speak their native languages while also actively learning a second language, often with the help of numerous language-learning apps. For example, in the United States, it’s common for people to learn both English and Spanish, while in Europe, there is a rich diversity of languages and cultures.
Pakistan, with Urdu as its national language, has a unique linguistic history. Urdu didn’t emerge in isolation—it evolved over centuries, shaped by the influence of different empires and cultures that once ruled the land. When the Mughal from Central Asia arrived, they brought Turkic languages with them. Later, the Persian influence introduced Farsi, and during the Arab rule, Arabic also became integrated into the region.
Imagine taking the richness of Turkic, Farsi, and Arabic, placing them in a box, giving it a good shake, and coming to something entirely new—Urdu. This language, born from a blend of diverse influences, carries fragments of each culture that once ruled these lands. You can see this vibrant mix reflected in the works of early Urdu Poets. Their verses flowed seamlessly between languages, embodying the diversity and adaptability of Urdu itself.
Fast forward to present-day Pakistan, and the linguistic landscape has shifted again. Those who speak fluent English are often seen as out of place, sometimes called ‘burgers,’ while those who don’t are labeled ‘paindu.’
This contrast highlights two more profound questions:
- Why are Pakistanis so emotionally invested in the English language?
- Why is its role important in our discourse?
When we look at many modern countries, their languages form the backbone of their unity. They speak one language and issue government orders in that language, and, as a result, everyone understands each other, which helps keep language-related conflicts at bay.
It’s a straightforward formula – One Nation, One Language.
Challenges of Pakistan’s Linguistic Diversity
But in Pakistan, the story is different. Imagine traveling from the North Pakistan to Karachi. Every couple of hours, the language around you changes. You might hear Hindko in one place, Urdu in another, switch to English, and then hear Punjabi (and, of course, different accents and tones of Punjabi) as you move further. This linguistic variety is part of Pakistan’s charm, but it also presents a unique challenge.
With 251 million Pakistanis, there’s a paradox: they share a national identity, but many struggle to communicate with each other across regional language divides. And with that comes the potential for misunderstandings and conflicts—something the state has to constantly navigate.
Understanding our Emotional Attachment to English
To understand our emotional attachment to English, we must recognize the two extremes of those who speak it and those who do not. Both perspectives stem from our colonial past. When the British arrived in the subcontinent, there was a lack of unity in language and communication due to its diversity and vast geography.
How did the British perpetuate it?
The British ruling class partnered with local elites who became ‘The Nawab, Jagirdaars’ later, recognized the British as symbols of progress. As the Mughal Empire weakened, these elites aligned with the British, pursuing Higher ‘English’ education and opportunities abroad. For them, English became a language of status and success, while the majority continued to speak their native tongues. This disparity created a perception that mastering English was essential for respect and advancement, given the British dominance at the time.
The British Raj perpetuated the notion of their superiority, portraying themselves as an advanced civilization for over 200 years. By the 1940s, they had exhausted subcontinent’s resources and were burdened by World War II debt, making their colonial rule economically unviable. Consequently, negotiations began with the ‘local elites’ to facilitate the transfer of power. This ultimately led to the partition of East Pakistan, West Pakistan, and India.
Did we really get independent in 1947?
In 1947, Pakistan gained independence, but Pakistanis did not. Power merely shifted from one ruling class to another. For someone like Kamran in Layyah, life before and after independence remained the same—same systems, same local elites in charge, with only the ‘supreme’ British gone. The new ruling class adopted the colonial mindset, shaping the constitution, rules, and governance around it, which persists today.
Just as the British had a divide between the elite and working class, Pakistan maintained this hierarchy. To preserve this system, English became the official language despite Urdu being the national language. Critical exams like the CSS, court hearings, and laws remain in English, a language many Pakistanis don’t even understand, leaving the majority disconnected from their own system of governance.
English Speakers vs. Non-Speakers in Pakistan
So, the government made two Pakistan(s):
One for English speakers and One for non-English speakers.
The ruling class, to maintain power, instilled fear and insecurity in the working class, ensuring they wouldn’t challenge authority. The English-speaking elite built their own exclusive bubble and education system, leaving the working class unable to fit in.
Critical Nature of Our Discourse
This deepens the divide in Pakistan’s discourse. Globally, broken English isn’t ridiculed as it is here. People use their native language and only enough English to get their point across. In Pakistan, however, trying to learn or speak English often results in mockery, stifling any sense of growth. This even affects opportunities— Every year, 80% of aspirants fail the CSS English essay. A brilliant student with a passion for science and mathematics might fail a CSS exam simply for not mastering English. This fuels resentment toward not only the language but those who speak it, in young minds.
Rational Thinking: Government, Education, etc.
Beyond emotional factors, we need to approach this issue rationally. It’s essential to translate notifications, judicial proceedings, constitutions, and regulations into Urdu, and conduct CSS exams in Urdu as well. English could be reserved for roles in foreign services, where it’s necessary, but for most positions that involve dealing with Pakistanis, it shouldn’t be a necessity.
Then there’s our fragmented education system—English medium, Urdu medium, Cambridge, or local? It’s a confusing mess. We need a unified system with Urdu as the main medium and English taught as an additional language. Forcing students to learn English in environments where it’s not spoken leads to rote memorization and stifles critical thinking. Learning a language requires practice, both in speaking and writing, and without it, genuine understanding is lost.
Countries like Malaysia, Turkey and Thailand conduct their education in local languages and are doing just fine. They also have sectors of international schools where English is the primary language. So why are we still using English in courts and schools, when a large portion of our population doesn’t even understand it? It’s no wonder we struggle with critical thinking and meaningful communication. It’s time to rethink our language policies to truly serve our people.
Key Steps Moving Forward
In the AI world, your human brain, your critical thinking, your original thoughts will be what matter. To support this, it’s vital to address communication gaps within the country. While we shouldn’t eliminate local languages, Urdu should be prioritized for official use and education. Separating English, Urdu, and local languages like Hindko, Pashto, Punjabi, or Sindhi creates confusion, as people think one way and speak another. A certain level of language unification is necessary for national coherence.
Modern-Day Class Conflict
What you’re seeing in modern-day class conflict is basically the working class breaking out and saying, “To hell with you and your British ways!” It is a trauma driven response.”Hey, why are you speaking English? Are you trying to act like a foreigner? Why can’t you be more Pakistani?” This emotion, this negative energy that you are bringing, where you’re trying to belittle someone, is largely coming from a trauma response.
If you’re thinking this way or mocking someone, step back and think about your life. Has anyone ever mocked you for speaking English, for speaking it poorly, or for having bad grammar? Did your friends ever tease you, saying, “Look at this person, what are they trying to do?” Did you ever feel insecure about the whole matter? Growing up, there was always some strange drama around English.
Global value of English
The global value of English lies in its practicality as the most widely spoken language, with 1.5 billion speakers. If we look at what language is used globally in business, it’s English. In travel, the medium of communication is English.
Even if you go to a third culture, where neither you nor the other person are native English speakers, you will both communicate in English. So, if you want to globalize yourself, Learn and speak English to understand others and communicate with them.
India provides a strong example of balancing language use. Many of their TV channels broadcast in English, inviting English-speaking guests and facilitating an exchange of ideas, helping the West better understand India. Their news and analysis in English reach a global audience.
However, this doesn’t mean India is fully Westernized. Their Prime Minister speaks in Hindi abroad, but they’ve established English as a communication gateway. This demonstrates India’s strategic use of English alongside promoting its local language. Their English-speaking population provides IT services worldwide, generating 54.4 Billion USD in revenue. If they had only spoken in Hindi, they wouldn’t have been able to achieve this. They needed a second language to communicate and conduct business.
Content in Pakistan
When it comes to content in Pakistan, there’s another drama going on. We don’t even have a TV channel in English. We tried with channels like Dawn and Express, but they didn’t get any ratings or views, so it wasn’t sustainable. But if someone comes and makes content in English, they are building a bridge. They are making content for Pakistanis and also for the outside world.
What you can do?
Start reading books, watching content, and consuming information in English. Try to understand how to use these words in phrases, what different types of humor mean, and all these things will not make you a king of English. But it will give you a selfish advantage: You can communicate with people around the world, tap into a lot of knowledge bases, money making opportunities, globalize the worldview, and stimulate the intellect.
The fixed mindset says, “I am who I am, and I won’t go any further.” The growth mindset, on the other hand, says, “Oh, this is something new; let me explore it; let me try to understand it.
Did you know that an average person can easily learn 3 languages? It doesn’t require any extra brain capacity. Follow the mantra ‘Learn, speak, practice’
Overcoming our Traumas
Language is a very small thing. In Pakistan, it happens a lot that whenever you try to do something new, people make fun of you. Pakistanis live with this mindset ‘’If I wasn’t allowed to do it, then I won’t let others do it either.’ Whereas, when you take a step back, relax, and reflect, you think, ‘What is the reason behind these insecurities I feel?
Why do I have these negative feelings? Or maybe there is some trauma I need to reconcile with.
Brought in self-awareness, I realize that my negative feelings are because I feel ashamed of something. So maybe I should be more confident about it. Automatically, the negative feelings you had start to fade away. Trust me, your life will start becoming much more peaceful. Seek pathways that you can pursue, and your life will improve automatically.
Time to Self Reflect
Think about a cousin or friend around you. In the past few days or months, has there been a moment where your friend said something in English—maybe they used the wrong word or messed up the grammar, and you started laughing?
Like, ‘What are you doing? Oh no!'”
Yes, he may have said something wrong, and it didn’t cause any real harm. You made fun of him and moved on, but it might have created an insecurity in him that will last a lifetime. In the future, he might have to give presentations or speak to a foreign client, or travel the world. And now, because of that, he is
constantly trying to fake an accent because he feels insecure. The accent problem, especially, if you go anywhere in the world, everyone has their own accent. Arabic English has its own style, Russian English has its own style, Indian English has its own style. But in Pakistan, people twist their mouths while speaking English. For heaven’s sake, Speak in your regular accent.
So, think for a moment. Just because someone speaks English, will you hate them? Just because of their language, dress, or style, will you hate them? Does that even make sense?
Otherwise, this will continue—those who wear pants and shirts will call those in traditional clothes ‘paindu,’ and those in traditional clothes will call those in pants and shirts ‘burgers.”
“The fact of the matter is, both groups are useless. Neither of them has any real value.”
Their only value is that they make fun of people for their appearance or language. Because an actual intelligent person doesn’t waste time mocking others. They spend time thinking, exploring things, engaging in meaningful conversations, and having productive discussions. This kind of negativity feeds into other things and creates problems for our lives, our society, our community.
Love you mother tongue, take secondary languages seriously and compete with the world.
Well, that’s my thought. Raw, Random, Honest.
References.
British Raj. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Raj
Constituition Net. (n.d.). Retrieved from International Idea: https://constitutionnet.org/country/pakistan
Domestic revenue of the information technology industry in India from financial year 2019 to 2023, with estimate of 2024. (n.d.). Retrieved from Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1407101/india-total-revenue-it-industry/
How Many Languages Can you Learn? (n.d.). Retrieved from The Spanish Group: https://thespanishgroup.org/blog/how-many-languages-can-you- learn/#:~:text=An%20average%20person%20can%20speak,a%20maximum%20of%20four%2 0languages.
Language data for Pakistan. (n.d.). Retrieved from Clear Global: https://clearglobal.org/resources/language-data-for-pakistan/
Mughal languages. (n.d.). Retrieved from Vaia: https://www.vaia.com/en- us/explanations/history/the-mughal-empire/mughal- languages/#:~:text=During%20the%20Mughal%20Empire%2C%20the,were%20spoken%20b y%20the%20populace.
Noreen, D. S. (n.d.). English Education in British India. Retrieved from https://ojs.jass.pk/ojs/index.php/jass/article/view/308/117
Rehman, A. u. (n.d.). Patrons and Urdu Poets. Retrieved from Rekhta: https://www.rekhta.org/urdu- resources/patrons-and-urdu-poets?lang=ur
Rehmat, A. (July 21, 2019). WHY IS PAKISTAN’S MEDIA IN CRISIS? Retrieved from Dawn: https://www.dawn.com/news/1495230
Tiwana, Z. (n.d.). Deconstructing the CSS English Essay. Retrieved from Paradigm Shift: https://www.paradigmshift.com.pk/css-english- essay/#:~:text=Every%20year%2C%20more%20than%2080,of%20aspirants%20failed%20to
%20pass.
Top most spoken languages in the world in 2024. (n.d.). Retrieved from Eton Institute: https://www.etoninstitute.com/blog/top-most-spoken-languages-in-the-world-in-2024
Worldometer. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/pakistan- population/
