Decline of Punjabi Language/ Punjabi nationalism ? Why Punjabi is dying explains Faisal Gurmani
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ต.ค. 2024
- Death of Punjabi Language and Punjabi Nationalism
Do you know that if the current state of Punjabi language, literature, and culture continues, there will be no Punjabis left in the world? Let us explain how this could happen.
The global population of Punjabis is around 150 million. According to the 2011 census of India, there are 27.7 million Punjabis in India, while in Pakistan, according to the 2017 census, the total population of Punjabis is around 110 million. About 40% of Punjabis live in cities and 70% in villages. The rest of the Punjabi diaspora is settled in Canada, Europe, the USA, and other parts of the world.
From this data, you can deduce that the majority of Punjabis live in Pakistan. They are also the majority population in Pakistan. Punjabis have always been a strong community in Pakistan. After the creation of Pakistan, the most politically strong community was the Urdu-speaking community, but this power shifted to the Punjabis because they were the majority. However, today, the language, culture, and nationalism of these same Punjabis are under threat. They are the only majority community in the world that, despite being considered the most powerful in Pakistan, faces the danger of losing their identity.
Why do Punjabis today feel ashamed of speaking their language? Why is their culture and literature under threat? We will explore these issues through a historical lens to understand the reasons behind them.
After the partition in 1947, there was a consensus among the Pakistani elite that the diverse ethnic groups in Pakistan could be unified through an Islamic identity, and a national Pakistani identity could be created. For this purpose, Urdu was made the national language. Throughout Pakistan's history, the center has always been powerful, and the provinces have had no political powers. This power was used to suppress regional identities to formulate a Pakistani identity. As a result, Punjabi nationalism and the expression of the Punjabi language were severely repressed. If anyone in the province talked about implementing Punjabi, they were labeled as enemies of the state and accused of conspiring to divide the country, and the state took steps as if they really wanted to do so. Interestingly, this didn't only happen with Punjabi but with all languages and ethnic groups in Pakistan.
Whenever there were regional movements in Pakistan, whether in Sindh or the current Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, they were also labeled as anti-Pakistan and accused of being supported by Pakistan's enemies. Despite being spoken by a very small percentage of the population, Urdu was given precedence over local languages. Efforts were made to make it the language of the common people through its use in government offices, educational institutions, and legal affairs, which was quite successful to a large extent.
In Punjab, the state promoted Urdu, giving it priority in the education system while completely ignoring Punjabi. As a result, the use of Punjabi among younger generations decreased. Urdu and English were considered modern languages in Pakistan. In cities, especially, jobs and socio-economic advancement were linked to these languages, which led people to leave their villages and, along with them, their language, believing it offered no job prospects or other benefits.
A language is promoted through education and mass communication. In Pakistan, there was no significant newspaper or television channel in Punjabi that reached a large audience. Similarly, Punjabi cinema did not evolve as it did in our neighboring country, India. This made the decline of Punjabi identity, language, literature, and culture inevitable, and its representation and promotion in public space became limited.
Since the creation of Pakistan, all communities have been sensitive about their identities, especially the Baloch, Pashtun, Sindhi, and Saraiki, who feel threatened by the domination of Punjab. Implementing Punjabi nationalism has also become a problem because these groups would feel threatened.
Another reason for the decline of Punjabi is that it was presented as a rural language-a lesser language-after partition. The fact is that the majority of Punjabis live in villages and speak Punjabi, so calling it a rural language makes it seem derogatory and less civilized. However, the truth is quite the opposite; Punjabi has a centuries-old rich literature, culture, and civilization.
Another reason for the decline of Punjabi is global trends. Dominant languages like English and others have become the languages of the internet, significantly influencing the suppression of regional identities. Additionally, the Punjabi diaspora settled abroad is gradually forgetting the Punjabi language and bringing their influence back to their home countries.
These are a few examples of why the Punjabi identity, language, culture, and literature are in decline.
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In Indian Punjab, Punjabi is state language, medium of instruction along with Hindi and English. It is flourishing here with its own script Gurumukhi. It is mother tongue of both Sikhs and Hindu Punjabis.
When the sons and daughters disown their mother no one else will take care of her . This is the similar situation with Punjabi language !!!
So proud to be Punjabi ❤️
Some people throw the idea that Hindi for India & Urdu for Pakistan. But this is not a right comparison.
HINDI FOR INDIA :-
1) Hindi is native to India.
2) Hindi is spoken by majority approx 40% of Indians as mother tongue.
URDU FOR PAKISTAN:-
1) Urdu is not native to any part of Pakistan.
2)Urdu is spoken by an obscure minority only 6-7% as mother tongue.
Thus , One must not compare apples with oranges !!
Punjabi is not dying. Punjabi language is, now, flourishing all across the globe especially in music Punjabi is booming. Now, the trends are changing at an exponential rate.
Not in West Panjāb sadly :(
It's our mother fault that she not taught about the punjabi language and speak in urdu language😢
And the day Punjabis will realize that a few people are taking away their language, culture and traditions from Punjabis to increase their bank balance, that day Pakistan will end.Because Punjabis are 50 percent of this country
The 110 million people living within the current Western Punjab (including the occupied Saraikistan and Pahadi people towards Kashmir) are not Punjabi. Please count them out.
اپ سرائیکی ہونے کے ناطے اپنے اپ کو پنجابی مانتے ہیں۔اپ سچے ادمی ہو
I think only Sikh Community will keep Punjabi alive.
Intersting. Watching from India.
It’s up to our generation and the next to completely shun Urdu and only learn and teach Punjabi and English.
@IqbalBakht you need English to succeed in today’s World, no matter who you are and where you live. The great Punjabi diaspora and their children all speak English and will continue to do so. So we need to adapt it as our second language. Lekan ghar vich te aapas vich sirf Punjabi bolo
bohat khoob, maza aya dekh kar, shabbash, jeetay rahein!
Thank you 🙏
Proud to be a Punjabi, we are 2% of the total population of India but fully dominate in bollywood and world
While I a Hindi speaker, I can understand Punjabi to large extent because it is a fellow Indo-European language, but more importantly because it’s the coolest language which is ruling bollywood music for dor over two decades now. I wish and I am sure that language will prosper. For West Punjab, all that is needed is making it one of the official languages of the state and the state assembly. Rest will follow.
Dogri zubaan ki yahaan kya haalat hai, Jo Pakistan mein Punjabi ki dialect maani jaati hai. Yeh Zafarwal, Amru chak, shakar garh, pasrur vagairah mein boli jaati ho sakti hai.
Salam alaikum bhai very much appreciated but you referred to yourself as saraikis but saraikis aren’t an ethnic group
You are wrong that Punjabi language will die one day. Punjabi language will keep alive in East Punjab and West Punjab.. The custodians of Punjabi language are still present in this world and it is also true that Punjabi is declining and the main reason for this is few people.. They want one unit one nation.. they are Punjabi politicians and soldiers who are filling their bellies (money )and pushing Punjabi back by promoting Urdu language.
Bhai Saraiki or multani b punjabi ka hi dialect hai
Music ki wajah se boring lag raha hai
Yeh zabani tasub palaraha hai..
Masalllha
پنجابی پاکستان سے پہلے بھی پنجاب میں بیک سیٹ پر تھی۔ انگریزوں نے اردو کو یہاں رائج کیا۔ اس سے پہلے فارسی تھی۔ یہاں تک کہ رنجیت کے وقت بھی سرکاری زبان فارسی تھی مگر دربار کی عامیانہ پنجابی تھی۔ شاید اس نے جو پنجاب اور پختون خواہ میں مسلمانوں اور انکی عبادتگاہوں کے ساتھ کیا اور اپنی قوم کے مسلمانوں کو بھی نہیں چھوڑا شاید اسکے بعد پنجابی مسلمانوں نے زبان کو رنجیت کے کردار سے جوڑا۔
اس کا نتیجہ ہمیں ہیر اور سیف الملوک کی ماشرے میں حلول کے فرق سے پتہ چلتا ہے۔ ایک رنجیت سے پہلے اور دوسی بعد کی ہے۔ دونوں ماسٹر پیس ہیں۔ مگر معاشرے میں penetration بہت فرق ہے
This is just a spoken language in Pakistan. we prefer to write in Urdu.
"Just a spoken" sound like a typical Tawaif Urdu speaker 🤢🤢
**** urdu