How language issue became an important part of the controversy even after independence of Pakistan
Answers
Explanation:
Language is a crucial part of any culture. It is a dominant feature in determining
the bases of nationalism or ethnicity, as it represents a nation’s identity and
preserves its heritage. Language is also the driving force behind the unity of the
peoples and makes them distinct from other nations. Language is never imposed
but adopted and once a language is adopted, it is difficult to eliminate it from the
society until the society decides to change or adopt something different. The
question about the State language of Pakistan was raised immediately after the
independence in 1947. Imposition of Urdu as the national language of Pakistan
created disastrous problems for the country in the coming years. This decision
was resented in East Pakistan and strong opposition came from its masses when
the central government of Pakistan started the unilateral use of Urdu in money
order forms, postal stamps, currencies, coins, railway tickets and official
letterheads even without formally adopting Urdu as state language of Pakistan
(Zaheer, 1994: 21).
Neglecting Bengali in this process spawned the feeling of distrust and
discontent among the students, intelligentsia and political parties of East
Pakistan. Even the common people of East Bengal started speculating on the
motives of the anti-Bengali ruling elite. The government argued that decision of
making Urdu as the national language of Pakistan was just as Hindi was the state
language of India (Language and movement.., 2004). To counter this decision,
students and intellectuals of East Pakistan resisted and demanded that Bengali
should also be made as one of the State languages and the medium of instruction
in East Pakistan along with Urdu. They pleaded that it was the language of
majority as 54% people spoke it as compared to Urdu that was spoken by 7% in
Pakistan. Bengalis referred it as cultural domination of one ethnic group on