Urdu Sindhi conflict: the shacking theoretical foundation of Pakistan

There is widespread deception in prevalence that  Pakistan has been built only in the name of religion (Islam), but it never be accepted by the people of Pakistan. In 1971, the construction of Bangladesh exposed the hollowness of the two-nation theory of Jinnah and Muslim League in front of the world. Dr. Khan's famous statement makes Pakistan's position clear - I am Pashtoon for 4000 years, I am Muslim for 1400 years and Pakistanis for just 40 years only. Even today, ethnic and cultural identity in Pakistan is quiet dominant on Islam.  And it appears from time to time when Islamic followers of Pakistan are standing in front of each other on a number of such occasions. And such an incident happened in the University of Sindh.

In a notification released on April 17, the University of Sindh, Jamshoro has decreed that all public signboards and building titles shall carry messages in two languages—English and Sindhi. The notification further orders all concerned individuals to take appropriate measures and to bring this announcement into force.

Meanwhile, Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s  Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Sindh, Faisal Subzwari has tweeted against the University’s move and claimed that the new policy must be revoked:

“It is notified for general information of all that the signboards and building titles in the University of Sindh, Jamshoro and its all campuses shall be in bilingual format (English+Sindhi). All concerned heads are requested to take necessary action in this pursuit,” read the notification.

Language has always been a divisive issue in Pakistan. Yes, without a doubt. It all started in Dhaka in 1948 when Mohammad Ali Jinnah made a speech there, declaring that Pakistan would have only one national language — Urdu. He said the same language will also be the official language of the country, meaning that all business of the state and government would be conducted in Urdu. By 1952, the intelligentsia in East Pakistan – mainly university students and teachers – were agitating to get the same status for Bengali. The response by the Pakistani authorities was brutal. On February 21, 1952, many agitating students were shot dead by the police in Dhaka. In recognition of those who lost their lives for their mother language that day, the United Nations adopted February 21 as International Mother Language Day, celebrated the world over since 2000.

By 1972, it was the turn of Urdu-speakers in Karachi to rise up in protest when the Sindh government declared Sindhi the official language of the province — mandating that the business of the provincial government must be conducted in it. This led to rioting, arson and killing in Karachi at a large scale.

Pakistan in general, and Sindh and Karachi in particular, have suffered serious conflagrations among communities opposing each other on the basis of ethnicity and language, among other things. The brutal suppression of Sindhis by a Punjab-dominated martial law regime in the 1980s, tit-for-tat ethnic cleansing in parts of Karachi in the mid-1980s carried out by Pukhtuns and Urdu-speaking Mohajirs, killing and eviction of Punjabi settlers in rural Sindh in the late 1980s, the 1988 massacre of Urdu-speakers in Hyderabad — here are just a few examples of language and identity converging into a deadly mix.

Activists from Seraiki-speaking areas have long demanded a separate province, citing neglect by the Lahore-based Punjabi establishment.

The PPP is also accused of fanning ethnic and linguistic differences between the residents of urban and rural Sindh, in order to have the rural Sindh vote bank in its thrall. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is said to be doing the same in urban Sindh.

This is another serious assault on a notion that says that Islam is sole fundamental idea of Pakistan's creation. Pakistan is highly divided on the basis of sects, languages and ethnicity, and Islam is just like trying to cover rift by a thin piece of paper.