The Punjabi Movement
By Tariq Rahman Ph.D
Professor of Linguistics and South Asian Studies,
Quaid-i-Azam University,
Islamabad.
Excerpted from the author’s book LANGUAGE and POLITICS in PAKISTAN (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1996. Reprinted 1998; 2000. ISBN 0 19 577999 1
Research paper
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The activists of
the Punjabi movement want Punjabi to be used for educational, administrative,
and judicial purposes in the province of the Punjab. As the Punjab is the most
populous and prosperous province of the country, notorious for its dominance in
the army and the bureaucracy, many people find this language movement
incomprehensible. Indeed, most Punjabis of the upper and the middle classes do
favour Urdu, and submerge their Punjabi identity in the Pakistani one. What is
difficult to explain is why the activists of the Punjabi movement do not do so.
Would the Punjabi activists gain power? Considering that most of them are
generally competent in Urdu (and some even in English), they could choose the easier
way of joining the Punjabi elite rather than opposing it. Moreover, some of
them such as Hanif Ramay—who was the chief minister of the Punjab under Z. A.
Bhutto’s PPP rule in 1972-76 and is the Speaker of the Punjab Legislative
Assembly at the time of this writing—possess political power; nor is it
difficult for others to join mainstream politics and rise to eminence as
Pakistanis (as Ramay asserts in his book: 1985: 29). Does the lure of the
movement extend only to the less successful, as Christopher Shackle suggests?
It is much easier to become an office bearer in a
Punjabi organization than in a respectable Urdu one; in a society where men
love to toll off their sonorous titles, this pull should not be underestimated
(1970: 259)
This hypothesis may
explain why some young men preferred to join Punjabi rather than Urdu literary
organizations in the 1960s when Shackle was in Lahore, but it does not explain
why obviously talented people like Asif Khan, Shafqat Tanwir Mirza, and Najm
1-losain Syed—all men of letters in their own right—should join the movement.
Moreover, a hypothesis based ultimately on snobbery does not explain why people
should put their careers at stake or risk political persecution for a cause.
Ramay, for example, says he was jailed and kepx in the Lahore fort, which is
notorious for torture. because of his espousal of the Punjabi cause (Ramay
1985: 149-50).
It appears then
that this is a question that should be addressed in an account of the movement.
Accounts of the activities of Punjabi organizations are available (Khan, A.
1994; Mirza 1994), but there is no scholarly account of the whole movement. Its
historians have generally been activists who are polemical and resort to
conspiracy- theory explanations, noting that Punjabi was never used by the
British or the Pakistani governments in the domains of power, even in the
Punjab itself.
Punjabi in the
British Era
The British annexed the Punjab in I 849. The official
language used by the Sikhs, whom they had defeated, was Persian, though religious
schools did teach Punjab in the Gurmukhi scripx (Adm Rep-P 1853:98). The
question of a language policy became evident as the vernacular terms used by
the officers in correspondence were often unintelligible to their superiors
(Letter of the Secretary, Board of Administration to Commissioners under the
Board, I April 1849 in Chaudhry 1977; I). The Board proposed that Urdu should
be used as the official language of the Punjab, since it was already being used
in Northern India where they were established (Chaudhry 1977:3). The Deputy
Commissioner of Dera Ghazi Khan said that, whereas the ‘Moonshees, Moolahs, and
other educated persons write Persian’, not a man out of his ‘sudder
establishment understands Oordoo’ (Letter to the Commissioner of Leiah, 24 July
1849 in Chaudhry 17). The Assistant Commissioner of Muzaffargarh also argued
that ‘the native officers, both Sudder and Mofussil, composed chiefly of
Mooltanee are unable to write Oordoo while with Persian they are familiar’
(Letter of 25 July i849 to Commissioner of Leiah, ibid. 17). The Commissioner
of Multan, therefore, recommended the use of Persian since ‘in Mooltan none but
the Hindoostanees who have lately been employed, are able to read the Oordoo
without the greatest difficulty’ (Letter to Secretary of the Board of Adm,
Lahore, 27 July 1949, ibid. 19). The Commissioner of Leiah Division did,
however, recommend the use of Urdu to the Board of Administration, despite the
problem of the clerical staff, in his letter of I August 1849:
Native Omla if they had a voice in the matter would
give Persian the preference to Ciordoo and it is known how unpopular among that
class the order was which substituted the latter language for Persian in all
the courts of our old Provinces (Chaudhry 1977: 21).
In
his opinion, the staff could learn Urdu in a few months. The Board, however,
recommended the use of Persian for Leiah as well as Multan, Peshawar, and
Hazara. For the divisions of Lahore and Jhelum, however, Urdu was recommended
(Orders are in the form of a letter in Chaudhry 26-7).
The
question is why did the British not recognize Punjabi as the vernacular of the
Punjab? Why did they choose Urdu instead? Punjabi activists assert that this
was done for political reasons or because of the influence of the lower staff
who were mostly from northern India (Mirza 1989). The documents of that period,
mostly letters of British officers, do not corroborate these assertions.
There
were. of course, many Hindustanis in the amlah till I 857, at which time
they were suspected of being sympathetic to the mutineers and were consequently
dismissed (Adm Rep-P 1853:100). In 1854 Sikhs were not recruited to the army
for political reasons and there were not many Punjabis in the other services
either. However, there was no bias against Punjahis as such, as the Report
says:
There are sixteen [Hindustani]
tehseeldars and fifty-three thanedars. We would gladly have filled these
sixty-nine appointments with Punjabis exclusively, had fit men been procurable
(Adm Rep-P 1953: 208).
But whether these
Hindustanis actually influenced policy decisions is yet to be proved and is
highly unlikely. It is, however, likely that the British officers, like their
clerks, also knew Urdu and as Leitner, Principal of Government College, Lahore,
reports (1882: ii), they found it more convenient to carry on administration
with their existing skills. It is also possible that many among them shared the
prejudices of Hindustanis. As Leitner, who was a supporter of Punjabi, wrote:
The fact is that
the direction of the Educational Department has long been in the hands of men,
both Europen and Native, connected with Delhi(Leitner 1882: 47).
But
even if this is true, it only confirms that both Englishmen and Indians were
prejudiced against the Punjabi language. This prejudice is further confirmed by
letters. Letter after letter reveals that most British officers assumed that
Punjabi was a rural patois of which Urdu was the refined form (for this opinion
see letters in Chaudhry 1977: 52, 55, I 81, 183. 191, 208, 218, et passim. Also
see Leitner 1882: ii and 29). There is no indication that Punjabi, written in
the Persian scripx by Muslims, was considered politically dangerous.
The British officers were, however, against
Gurmukhi because it was symbolic of the Sikh religious identity. In a letter of
16 June 1862, the Commissioner of Delhi wrote to the Punjab Government that,
‘Any measure which would revive the Goormukhee which is the written Punjabee
tongue, would be a political error’ (Chaudhry 1977: 67). As Sikh children
learned Gurmukhi in school (Leitner 1882: 33-7), it might have been considered
politically expedient not to support it officially. There were, to be sure,
popular folk songs against Mughal rule, which may be called anti-colonial
(Saleem 1986; 16-23), but they were no longer a part of any active anti-British
movement. Thus, there is no mention of this oral literature nor of any
political apprehension from the Punjabi language or its literature, which was
mostly mystical in the official records of that period.
Pro-Punjabi
Movements in British Days
By 1854, the whole
province of the Punjab (which included the present NWFP) used Urdu in the lower
levels of administration, judiciary, and education. This position was
challenged first by the British and later by the Hindus and Sikhs, while the
Muslims continued to support Urdu.
In a letter of 2
June 1862, Robert Cust, a British officer in the Punjab, advocated the use of
Punjabi written in the Gurmukhi scripx, on the grounds that it was the
vernacular language which the British should support in principle (letter No.
318 in the Punjab Archives). This suggestion was repudiated by the other
officers who felt that Punjabi was merely a dialect of Urdu. The Deputy
Commissioner of Gujrat wrote to the Commissioner of Rawalpindi on 23 June 1862
that
Even a Punjabee villager will more readily understand
simple Oordoo than indifferent Punjabee talked by us foreigners and by such of
our Moonshees as may be Hindustanee (Chaudhry 1977: 52).
The Deputy
Commissioner of Jhang also wrote to the Commissioner of Multan that the
introduction of Punjabi would be confronted with the difficulty that, the
‘Hindustanee Amlah understand the language imperfectly’ while the Punjabis
‘among them are well acquainted with it colloquially’ but do not know it ‘as a
written tongue’ (Letter of 24 June 1862 in Chaudhry 58). However, it was not
the convenience of the staff which finally made the British officers dismiss
the suggestion of Mr Cust. Their prejudiced views about Punjabi being an uncouth
dialect, or patois as some of them called it, prevented them from taking the
suggestion seriously.
By the I 880s, as
we have seen, the Urdu-Hindi controversy had started agitating the minds of the
Hindus and Muslims of the Punjab. Thus, when the Hunter Commission was formed
to recommend educational changes in India, the question of the medium of
instruction at the lower level had to be settled. The Sri Guru Singh Sabha
(Sikh National Association) of Lahore petitioned Sir Charles Aitchison, the
Governor of the Punjab, on 28 April 1882 to make Punjabi, in the Gurmukhi
scripx, the medium of instruction at least for their community. The Governor,
however, replied that such a step would harm the Sikhs. He said:
To exclude the children of the Sikhs from instruction
in Urdu would be to place them under very serious disadvantages. Without a
knowledge of Urdu it would be impossible to advance beyond the most elementary
education, and to continue their studies in the middle and high schools. They
would bc shut ou from access to an excellent, large, and daily increasing
literature, and they would be placed at a great disadvantage with their
countrymen in the business of life (Edn Comm-P 1884: 106-7).
The Governor’s
point, that Punjabi would have a ghettoizing effect on its speakers, was valid
on the assumpxion that positions of power and prestige would not be made
available in that language. The Sikhs submitted memorials to the Commission in
favour of Punjabi, while the Hindus submitted petitions in favour of Hindi (Memorials
in Edn Comm-P 1884: 457-602). The Muslims, as individuals and in organizations,
opposed Hindi and favoured Urdu (Memorial of the Anjuman Islamiaya [ ibid. 147;
Fateh Beg, ibid. 209-lU).
In the Urdu-Hindi
controversy, Urdu had become a symbol of Muslim identity while Hindi was the
symbol of Hindu identity. Under these circumstances it was not surprising that
Muslims chose to ignore their mother tongue(s). This attitude persisted till
the creation of Pakistan and one finds many instances of Punjabi Muslims
complaining in all forums, including the legislative assembly, that adequate
arrangements did not exist for the teaching of Urdu to their children (for
instance see LAD-Pun 5 and 22 March 1943: 3!, 426). The main positions were
clearly delineated along communal lines: Urdu for the Muslims; Hindi for the
Hindus; and Punjabi for the Sikhs. Thus, when the British did allow the Local
Bodies to establish Gurmukhi classes in the late 1890s, most of the students
were Sikhs (RPl-P 1897; 45). Yet, in fact, Punjabi was not popular even among
the Sikhs, because it was not a bread-winning language’ (RPI-l’ 1899:42).
During the ongoing
Urdu-Hindi controversy, the position of Urdu was challenged yet again. This
time the challenger was not a Hindu or a Sikh but a British officer, J. Wilson,
who was the Deputy Commissioner of Shahpur. He wrote a note in 1894 arguing
that Punjabi was the vernacular of the people of the Punjab, so that one
dialect of it should be standardized and used as the medium of instruction in primary
schooling in the Punjab. He also argued that the Roman character, being a
character developed by speakers of Aryan languages’ is more suitable for
Punjabi than the Arabic character, which is of Semitic origin (Wilson 1894), He
did concede, however, that Gurmukhi or Nagari is even more suitable for writing
Punjabi than Roman but, since it would never be adopxed by the Mussalman
portion of the population (Wilson 1894: 172), the only practicable alternative
was that of using Roman.
Wilson’s proposals
were condemned even more savagely than those of Cust. Most of his colleagues
were still of the view that Punjabi was a dialect or patois, despite Leitner’s
details about Punjabi literature and the indigenous tradition of education in the
province (1882). Indeed, some Englishmen even felt that Punjabi should be
allowed to become extinct, Judge A. W. Stogdon, the Divisional Judge of
Jullundur, wrote in his letter of 3 August 1895 that:
As for the encouragement of Punjabi. I am of the opinion
that it is an uncouth dialect not fit to be a permanent language, and the
sooner it is driven out by Urdu the better (in Chaudhry 977: 208).
Others felt that
the cost of such a change would be exorbitant (Chaudhry 187) or that such a
change would be a backward or reactionary step (Chaudhry 181, 183, 191,218),
Still others pointed out that the political repercussions of such a change, in
the context of the Urdu-Hindi controversy, could be alarming. The Commissioner
of Rawalpindi wrote in his letter of 27 May 1895 to the Junior Secretary to the
Financial Commissioner, Punjab, that the proposed change of’ scripx was
especially problematic. In his words:
Under the change [ Roman] the Mullah might lose
scholars and bigots might raise an agitation that Government was causing the
Arabic (Persian) character to be disused in favour of English in order to help
Christian Missionaries by discouraging the teaching of the Koran (in Chaudhry
1977: 240).
The same opinion
was expressed in different words by other officers (for their letters, see
Chaudhry 977: 268, 277, 317). The proposals were, of course, dropped.
Since the
Urdu-Hindi controversy was part of Hindu-Muslim antagonism, any attempx at
supporting the cause of Punjabi was interpreted by the Muslims as an attack upon
them. Thus, when Dr P. C. Chatterjee, a Bengali Hindu educationalist. proposed
in his convocation address at the Punjab University in 1908 that Punjabi should
replace Urdu, the Muslims opposed him vehemently. On 29 December 1908 a meeting
was held in Amritsar to condemn Chatterjee’s proposals.
Sir Muhammad Shafi,
a prominent Muslim leader from the Punjab, condemned Chatterjees views and
called him an enemy of the Muslims. It was especially pointed out that
Chattérjee was a Bengali and not a Punjabi and thus, it was reasoned, his real
interest lay not in promoting Punjabi but in opposing Urdu, which was now
symbolic of Muslim identity and separatism (Barelvi 1988: 27). Such reasoning
was based on the leading role of the Bengali Hindus in supporting Hindi against
Urdu throughout the Urdu-Hindi controversy (Jones 1966: 383- 85). Thus, the
support of Punjabi by a Bengali Hindu was perceived as an expression of his
anti-Muslim bias. As mentioned in the chapxer on the Urdu-Hindi controversy,
the Muslim League condemned the demand for Punjabi in its December 910 session
and Sheikh Zahur Ahmed gave the following highly provocative statement against
it:
Delhi, the home of Urdu is in the Province of the
Punjab and it would be a very sad day, indeed, if the high birth-place of Mir.
Ghalib and Zauq should be vulgarized by the Babylonish jargon, by courtesy
called Punjabi (Pir 1969: 196).
But such was the
feeling against Hindus and Sikhs, with whom Punjabi was identified, that the
Punjabi Muslims were not provoked.
Punjabi Movement
Before Partition
As has already been
mentioned, by and large it was only the Sikhs who promoted Punjabi language and
literature and since the British started to enrol the Sikhs in the army after
1857. They unwittingly helped to shape an identity that was already
recognisable to other peoples of northern India (Jeffrey 1986: 49). Thus, soon
after the Hunter Commission, Punjabi was no longer officially discouraged. Even
in 1877-78 ‘Punjabi, in the Gurmukhi character’ had been ‘introduced in the Oriental
colleges’ (RPI-P 1879: 29) and by 1906-7 inspecting officers were ‘instructed
to encourage the use of Punjabi colloquially in all Lower Primary classes
(RPI-P 1907:24). However, the number of Gurmukhi schools rose slowly (RP 1911;
5; 1912: 28; RPI-F 1907: II). Under the Muslim-dominated provincial
governments, the Sikhs complained that Punjabi Muslim ministers discouraged
their children from studying Punjabi (see Sardar Lal Singh’s statement in
LAD-Pun 6 March 1942: 407). Thus, while there were 1,245 Urdu medium primary
schools in the major cities of the Punjab in 1940, there were only 13 such
Punjabi medium schools (LAD-Pun 1 April 1940). In the same year, 13,342
students offered Urdu, 626 Hindi, and 96 Punjabi as their first vernacular in
the Matriculation and Vernacular examination (LAD-Pun 1942: 354). Urdu was also
most in demand for making adult literacy programmes, as 255,000 primers were
printed in Urdu whereas the number printed for both Punjabi and Hindi was
35.000 (LAD-Pun 4 December 1941: 69-70). One reason for the lack of interest in
Punjabi even amongst the Sikhs, was its ghettoizing effect. Ordinary Sikhs did
not want to sacrifice social mobility to a linguistic symbol. However,
identity-conscious Sikhs did promote Punjabi as we have seen.
The first daily
newspaper in Punjabi was published by the Sikh Sabha of Lahore (Khurshid 1986:
381). The Sikhs also published a number of papers in the Gurmukhi scripx among
which the Khalsa Samachar and Panj Darya are well known (Qaisar
1992: 18-9).
While the majority
of educated Punjabi-speakers, both Hindus and Muslims, promoted Hindi and Urdu,
among the Hindu organizations, the Sat Sabha, founded in 1866 and modelled
after the Brahmo Samaj by its founder, Lala Behari La!, also used Punjabi for
its work (Jones 1966: 380). Some Muslims also tried to promote Punjabi, though
they were not part of mainstream Muslim political culture.
The first Punjabi
newspaper in the Persian scripx was called Amrat Patreeka and was
published in Jhelum in 1896 (Khurshid 1986: 381) by a Hindu called Bhola Nath.
The first publication with which many Muslims were associated, and which was
edited by a man who later became one of the leaders of the Punjabi movement in
Pakistan, was Punjabi Darbar. This was published from Lyallpur by Joshua
Fazal Din (a Punjabi Christian) (Khurshid 1986: 382). A Punjabi Society was
established at Government College, Lahore in 1926. This Society staged many
plays in Punjabi and promoted the language in other ways (Hameed 1964). Another
private literary organization, the Doaba Kavi Sabha, was organized by Umar Din
Ulfat Varsi in 1931 at Jullundur (Faqir 1956: 3), In general, however, educated
Muslims associated themselves with Urdu rather than Punjabi. But this, as we
have noted before, was because of political expediency. The Muslim
intelligentsia had formed a pressure group against Hindus and Sikhs, and Urdu
was part of this Muslim identity. Meanwhile, the common people of the Punjab,
less conscious of lie exigencies of modernity, continued to enjoy oral Punjabi
literature. The mosque schools taught moral stories in Punjabi and Punjabi
stories were sold in the bazaars (Saleem PC: 8 December 1994).
The Beginning of
Activity
Soon after the
creation of Pakistan, Punjabi vanished as a university subject’ (Shackle 1970:
243). Because of its association with Sikhs and due to the state’s promotion of
Urdu, Punjabi was relegated to the periphery. In 1948, however, some activity
did begin when a meeting of some Punjabi intellectuals was held at the Dyal
Singh College under he presidentship of Syed Abid Ali Abid. All the
participants were distinguished men of letters, M. B. Taseer and Faqir Muhammad
Faqir amongst others. They decided to work towards making Punjabi the language
of education in the Punjab and to encourage publications in Punjabi. The first
objective remained an aspiration but Abdul Majid Salik did start publishing the
monthly Punjabi in 1951 (Qaisar 1992:20). Its editor, Faqir Muhammad Faqir, was
successful in persuading eminent Punjabi literary figures, who had made their
name in Urdu literature, to write for it. The Punjabi League and the Punjabi
Cultural Society were formed in early 1952 and a number of minor Punjabi
organizations, such as the Punjabi Morcha (Punjabi trench), created in 1954 by
Sardar lqbal Dillon (Int: 23 November 1994) proliferated. But none of these
organizations were able to get Punjabi accepxed as even an opxional language in
the University of the Punjab in 1953 (‘Editorial’ Punjabi March-April
and November—December 1953}.
The first
significant event of this period was the Punjabi Conference held on 9 March
1956 at Lyallpur. It was sponsored by the Punjabi Bazm-e-Adab (literary
society) and its main purpose was consciousness-raising ( Punjabi, March 1956:
3-5). This Bazm-e-Adab was the Pakistani version of Umar Din Ulfat Varsi’s
organization, which has been mentioned earlier. Having migrated from Jullundur
to Lyallpur, Varsi organized his society under an accepxable Persian name
(Faqir 1956: 3). The major impediment to the accepxance of Punjabi, as
perceived by Punjabi intellectuals, was that most literate Punjabis (and
perhaps also the illiterate) exhibited various degrees of cultural shame about
their language. In his presidential address at the conference, Abdul Majid
Salik pointed to this and the fact that Muslim Punjabis had always served Urdu.
He was, however, quick to add that the progress of Punjabi should not be at the
expense of Urdu which should remain the national language of Pakistan (Salik
1956: 8).
The Conference demanded
that Punjabi be used as the medium of instruction at the lower level. This was
accepxed in principle, although no real change was made. In fact, since all the
provinces of West Pakistan had been amalgamated into One Unit by this time, the
ruling elite was less supportive than ever of the indigenous languages of the
former provinces.
Punjabi During
Martial Rule
According to
Shafqat Tanwir Mirza, an activist of the Punjabi movement and later the editor
of the Urdu daily Imroze, Ayub Khan’s martial law was anti-Punjabi. In
his words:
To support Punjabi language and literature
was labelled a anti-state act and in 1959. under Ayub’s martial law. the
Pirnjabi Majlis, a Lahore based literary organisation was declared a political
party and banned. So much so that from 1959 to 962, no one dared to form a
literary organization in Lahore lest it be declared a political organization
(Mirza 1985: 43).
This was true as
far as the political aspects of the movement were concerned, but after 1962, it
appears that the state did make some concessions to the cultural aspirations of
Punjabi intellectuals. Radio Pakistan started its Punjabi programme Ravi Rang’
in 1960, and the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Lahore, agreed
to teach Punjabi from the sixth to the twelfth classes (Rasalu Int: I February
1993). The monthly Punjabi Adab also began publication and there was a
literary efflorescence in which some outstanding works on the Punjabi identity
were produced (for resistance literature in Punjabi, see Saleem 1986).
Among the most
significant works on the Punjabi identity is Najam Hussain Syed’s ‘Dullah di
Var’. The ‘var’ is an epic poem, a ballad of resistance or the versified
narrative of an armed conflict’ (Malik, F 1988: 22-3). Dullah (or Abdullah)
Bhatti of the poem’s title was a rebel against the Mughal emperor Akbar
(1554-1605) and was the subject of many a folk song in the Punjab (Saleem 1986:
17-20). The significance of Najam Syed’s poem is explained by Fateh Muhammad
Malik:
Najam has picked up this legendary figure
from folklore and made him a major symbol of Punjabi identity, He has portrayed
Dullah as a working class revolutionary. Dullah’s struggle has been projected
in proletarian colours. His rebellion is not only aimed at the change of the
government but also at the change of the exploitative socio-economic system
(Malik, F 1988: 31)
The other folk
heroes who resisted exploitation and foreign dominance were Ahmed Khan Kharal
(1803-1857), Nizam Lohar (nineteenth century), and Bhagat Singh (1907-1931),
who were all anti-British (Ramay 1985: Ill-3D).
Another Punjabi
writer who used the symbols of Dullah Bhatti and Shah Hussain ( a famous saint
of Lahore (Krishna 1977: 12-26), was (Major) Ishaque Mohammad (1921-82). In his
play Quqnus (phoenix) he uses these two figures to signify a distinct
Punjabi identity which, unlike the Punjabi elite, resists exploitation.
Ishaque’s play Musalli was perhaps the most well-known anti-colonial
work. In this, the original pre-Aryan inhabitants of the Punjab are shown
to be marginalized (Ishaque 1972; 1976). As the plays of both Syed and Ishaque
were inspired by socialist thought, and as Ishaque was the founder of the
leftist Mazdoor Kisan Party (Afzal 1987: 115). the literature of the Punjabi
Movement was labelled as being leftist or anti-Pakistan (Malik, S. t985: 245).
The Punjabi Group
of the Writers’ Guild was formed in the early 1960s with Shafqat Tanwir Mirz.a
as its first secretary. The Punjabi Adabi Sangat, the Punjabi Majlis of
Government College Lahore, the Punjabi Adabi League, an irregular private
society of Lahore, Majlis Shah Hussain, and a number of smaller organizations
provided forums for the activists of the Punjabi Movement to interact with each
other. The Sangat met at the YMCA at Lahore on Sunday evenings, though,
according to Shackle, its attendance was thin, while that of the Halqa-e
Arbab-e-Zauq, an Urdu literary forum, was much greater. The Punjabi Majlis,
which had a majority of left-leaning intellectuals (Saleem 1986: 35). nevertheless
welcomed everybody, while the Halqa was selective (Shackle 1970: 248-51). The
Majlis Shah Hussain, which was formed in 1962 was perhaps the most dynamic of
the Punjabi institutious’ in the late sixties (ibid. 252-3). In 1962. the
Punjabi Guild arranged a literary and musical function on ‘Mela Charaghan’ (the
fair of the lamps) which marks the death anniversary of Shah Hussain (Malik. F.
1988: 18). It also began publishing a monthly magazine called Lahran in
1965. Another magazine called Haq Allah started publication in 1962, but
only lasted until 1965 (Khurshid 1986: 384).
The main purpose of
the Punjabi organizations was to make the Punjabi language the focus of the
Punjabi, as opposed to the Pakistani, identity. The Punjabi Group of the
Writers’ Guild, under the inspiration of Shafqat Tanwir Mirza, held symposiums
on the future of Punjabi writers (px 22 February 1962) and was actively
concerned with consciousness-raising. As this assertion of the Punjabi, rather
than the Pakistani identity, was seen as being ethno-nationalistic, it was
condemned as being anti-Pakistani. Thus, in a speech Syed Abdullah, Principal
of the Oriental College of Lahore and a great supporter of Urdu, accused the
Punjabi activists of being anti-Pakistan and anti Islamic (px 15 March 1962).
Altaf Gauhar, a senior bureaucrat, believed that the Punjabi-Urdu controversy
which was going on in Lahore could harm national unity (CMG 20 April 1963).
Hamid Ali Khan, the representative of Punjabi in the Central Language Board,
declared that he loved literary Punjabi but condemned political Punjabi’ (Chikna
Choor 1963: 3). By ‘political Punjabi’, he meant the demand for making
Punjabi the language of basic schooling, administration, and the judiciary in
the province.
The term ‘political’
also referred to the opposition to Urdu (and in some cases mother-tongue
speakers of Urdu), by some of the activists of the movement. The older
generation of Urdu speakers did look down upon Punjabi which they, like the
British, regarded as a rustic dialect. However, the younger generation is
generally bilingual in Urdu and Punjabi though, like mother-tongue speakers of
Punjabi,. it too regards Punjabi as a rustic and ghettoizing language (Mansoor
1993: 108, 121). As the older generation of Urdu speakers supported Urdu
against Punjabi in the sixties, the Punjabi activists were often critical of
them. This was one political aspect of the movement, which raised government
apprehensions. What alarmed them most, however, was the interest the Punjabi
activists took in the development of Punjabi across the border, in India. Some
activists, like Dillon of the Punjabi Morcha, were so appreciative of Sikh
culture, that government officials and Pakistani nationalists feared they would
undermine the two-nation theory on the basis of which Pakistan was created
(Dillon Int: 23 November 1994).
Finally, on 6 April
1963, the Punjabi Group of the Writers Guild was banned, on the grounds that it
had started the Punjabi-Urdu controversy, which could harm the interests of
Urdu and strain relations between the supporters of Urdu and those of Punjabi.
Moreover the Group had discussed the Gurmukhi scripx and been in touch with the
Sikhs. For some time, the issue was hotly debated. The greatest opposition to
Punjabi was articulated in the Urdu Tarweej Conference of 26- 28 April 1963.
and the usual allegations against the Punjabi Group—that of being anti-Pakistan
and anti-Islam—were repeated (Yar, M. 1963: 49-54). After this, the Punjabi
Movement became very subdued on the political front, though its literary and
cultural activities continued.
The 1969
Educational Policy and the Movement
Air Marshal Noor
Khan’s proposals of 1969 were anti-English and were welcomed in pro-Urdu and
anti-elitist circles. However, they were opposed by the supporters of the
indigenous languages of West Pakistan. The activists of the Punjabi movement
also opposed them. Rather surprisingly, a retired lieutenant general, Bakhtiar
Rana, also urged the government to accommodate Punjabi in the new educational
policy (px 7 August 1969). The Punjabi Adabi Sangat presented a Memorandum to
Nor Khan, proposing that the following steps be taken:
1. Open the doors
of our seats of learning to Punjabi by:
a.
Adopxing it as a medium of instruction at the primary level.
b. Making
it an elective subject up to the secondary classes.
c.
Establishing separate departments for it in higher academic institutions.
d. Creating a separate chair for it in the Punjab
University and other universities to be opened in this area.
e. Using Punjabi as the medium of instruction for the
adult literacy programmes in the province.
2. Encouraging
Punjabi writing by enabling the libraries to buy books in the language
(Memorandum 1969).
Safdar Mir, an
eminent journalist and a supporter of Punjabi, pointed out that whereas Sindhi
and Pashto could be used at the primary level under the proposed policy,
Punjabi was not even mentioned. This’, in his view, ‘aroused the suspicions and
apprehensions of the protagonists of the Punjab’ (Zeno 1969). A number of organizations—Punjabi
Adabi League, Punjabi Durbar, Majlis Shah Hussain, Punjabi Society, Majlis Mian
Muhammad, Majlis-e-Bahu, Majlis Waris Shah, Majlis Shah Murad, and Rahs Rang (a
drama group in Lahore)—supported these demands for Punjabi. Dr Waheed Qureshi
of the Oriental College and Lieutenant General Rana also demanded the
establishment of a Punjabi Department at the University (Memorandum 1969: 13-7;
also see Mirza 1969). Despite all this opposition, however, the New Education
Policy of 1970 did not deviate from its proposed policy of not altering the
position of Punjabi.
Activities in the
1970
The 1970s opened
with one positive achievement for the Punjabi movement: The setting up of the
department of Punjabi at the Punjab University under the chairmanship of Najam
Hussain Syed. However, Najain’s secular and leftist reputation made the
department suspect in the eyes of his ideological opponents. During Ziaul Haq’s
martial law, when these opponents came into power, syllabi were changed, the
literature of the Sikhs was tabooed, and the faculty was purged of certain
members. This was, and remains, an impediment to the study of Punjabi
literature and its interpretation (Humayun 1986: 227-33).
In 1970, the Punjab
Adabi League translated the Quran into Punjabi (NT May 1970). General Rana
himself organized the Punjabi Ittehad Tehrik (Punjabi Unity Movement), which
was reported to have over 1000 members, and published a weekly called Punjab
di Avaz (the voice of the Punjab) The Tehrik reiterated the demand
for using Punjabi in education, administration, and the judiciary at the lower
levels.
After the emergence
of Bangladesh in December 1971, the Punjabi movement became somewhat subdued
although these were the best years for the production of consciousness-raising
literature. The relationship between identity and literature also received
direct expression at different forums. No less a personage than the poet Faiz
Ahmad Faiz said at a convention of the Sangat that only Punjabi could express
the true self most authentically. Ustad Daman, the Punjabi poet made much of
Faiz’s remarks, concluding that speaking Punjabi was tantamount to telling the
truth (px 13 January 1972).
Another important
issue was language planning. The issues of choosing a scripx and making dictionaries
available had to he addressed by the Punjabi activists and they used the
newspapers to express their views. The main issues involved changes in scripx
and the compiling of a good dictionary. After a long debate (see px 10
and 17 Sepxember and 5 October 1912) the scripx was not changed. However, even
now there are people who want to use the Gurmukhi scripx for writing Punjabi
(Dillon Int: 23 November 994). This perhaps, is a reaction to the perceived
dominance of Urdu which shares its present scripx with Punjabi. But this is a
minority opinion since many Punjabi activists do not want to abandon the
Arabic-based Urdu scripx, which symbolizes their Muslim identity. A good
dictionary, however, was published by the Urdu Science Board in 1989 (Bukhari
1989).
The 1980s
As we have seen
earlier, Genera! Ziaul Haqs military regime was not sympathetic to the
indigenous languages since they were regarded as symbols of ethno-nationalism.
On 2 January 1985 however, a Charter of the Punjabi people was signed by 139
prominent people. A press conference was addressed by Masood Khaddarposh,
Convener of the Punjabi Forum, and Fakhar Zaman, a well-known writer and former
senator. Besides the activists of the Punjabi movement, leftist members of the
PPP like Mairaj Khalid and Mubashir Hussan also signed the Charter (M 3 January
1985). The prominent English language journalist and editor of the left-leaning
weekly Viewpoint, Mazhar Ali Khan. also signed the Charter. In short, the
opposition to General Zia’s right wing government took this opportunity to
support Punjabi and the multi nationality thesis. The Charter did not make any
new demands; its main thrust was to make Punjabis proud of their language and
cultural identity (Charter-P 1985). The most significant step in that direction
was the Punjabi Conference of 1986.
This conference
took place in Lahore from 25-9 April. in the wake of the lifting of the martial
law. The new-found freedom encouraged Fakhar Zaman to arrange the conference
and invite participants from India and other countries of the world. The
delegates from India, however, were denied visas, so that Amrita Pritam, the
famous Punjabi poetess, could not preside over the Conference as originally
intended. The supporters of Punjabi protested ever this (Shah, B. 19S6), and
like most other ethno-nationalistic debates, this matter took on the character
of a left-right debate. The right wing writers pointed out that well-known
leftists: Abdullah Malik, the famous Urdu novelist; Tariq Ali Khan, the
Trotskyite student leader of Ayub Khan’s days now living in London; Ajmal Khattak
of the ANP; and Ghaus Baksh Bizenjo had either participated in or sent messages
to the conference (Rahman, A 1986; Qasmi 1986). Even Benazir Bhutto, Ziaul
Haq’s main political opponent with known liberal views, sent a message (Qaisar
and Pal 1988: 9). The atmosphere of the Conference was undoubtedly progressive
and anti-establishment. The religious faction was accused of censoring Punjabi
literature (Humayun 1986: 227-33). Aftab Naqvi, a college lecturer, was hooted
when he emphasized the Muslim identity if Pakistani Punjabis (Naqvi 1986;
118-19) and it was proposed that the Punjabi movement should try to ally itself
with the working class, rather than the middle class, which had always been
indifferent to it (Saqib l986: 127). Among the resolutions passed by the
delegates, the most important one was, predictably, that which pertained to the
use of Punjabi in the educational, administrative, and judicial domains (Qaisar
and Pal 1998: 457-84). The delegates also supported the ethno-nationalist
movements in the other provinces of Pakistan, as well as the socialist
revolution in Afghanistan One typical comment by the right wing press about
these activities was:
This is not serving ones mother tongue. This is only
finding ways for the progress of socialist thought and politics under the
banner of progressivism (Rahman. A. 1986).
On 8 May a
procession was brought out in Lahore under the auspices of the Punjabi Writers
Board, The Punjab Naujawan Mahaz, etc. All the other Punjabi organizations
participated and chanted slogans: ‘Punjahi Parho, Punjabi Likho’ (read
Punjabi, write Punjabi) (M 9 May 1986). While the Punjabi activists asserted
their distinctive identity (Zeno 1986). The supporters of the Pakistani
identity, like Fateh Muhammad Malik. argued that this identity was in a
hierarchical and not a mutually exclusive relationship with the Pakistani
identity (Malik, F. 1988:20-35).
As in the cases of
the other language movements, Punjabi language planners are also motivated by
the imperative of creating an authentic Punjabi identity through language
planning. Many Punjabis, and not only the activists, complain that ordinary
spoken Punjabi is too full of Urdu words to be authentic (Agha Babar in Zaidi,
M. A. 1993). This appears to be a threat to the Punjabi identity, because of
which some Punjahi activists use words of indigenous origin, even at the cost
of intelligibility, in their writings (though to a lesser extent in
conversation). Examples of new coinages and words commonly used are given
below.
The Punjabi daily
Sajjan (l989-90) used many such words. A critic of such usage claimed that it
became so unintelligible that it lost readers. It was also argued that some of
these words were Sanskritic or Hindi rather than the well-known Persian or
Arabic equivalents already in use (Iqbal 1991: 12).
________________________________________________________
Word commonly used
Punjabi
coinage
Meaning
________________________________________________________
Lafz
akkhar
word
Sailab
harh
flood
aqvam-e-muttahidda
1k muth
qauman United Nations
salana
varhe
var
yearly
khususi
achecha
special
taqreeb
ikath
gathering
bhejna
ghalna
to send
_______________________________________________________
(Khalid 1993)
The stress on
indigenization appears anti-Islamic to its critics because it involves purging
the language of its Arabic and Persian roots, Thus the use of the word chinta for worry rather than fikr is reminiscent of the Urdu-Hindi controversy,
when the supporters of modern Hindi substituted this word for worry, while the
supporters of Urdu retained the Persian fikr.
The Present
During Benazir
Bhutto’s first tenure, Nawaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of’ the Punjab, used
Punjabi nationalism to confront the centre, Fakhar Zaman, a supporter of thc
PPP, called this policy ‘Punjabism’ and stigmatized it as a’political stunt’ (D
20 December 1988).
The 1990s have seen
the rise of younger people to the forefront of the movement. Saeed Farani Kammi
(1990) and Nazir Kahut (1992) have written books which, though polemical and
based upon conspiracy theories, contribute towards making educated Punjabis
conscious of the need to take pride in their language. Alyas Ghumman writes on
technical and scientific subjects in Punjabi (Ghumman Int: 31 January 1993)
while a number of journalists bring out the fortnightly Ravel and the
monthly Maan Boli. The attempx to bring out a daily, Sajjan, failed after twenty-one months (3 February 1989 to October 1990), but it
inspired Punjabi activists because the journalists who worked in it devoted
themselves selflessly, on a voluntary basis, and kepx publishing the daily,
despite a crippling lack of funds (Qaisar 1992; All, N. 992). Thus, Sajjan became a legend which inspires the Punjabi movement even now.
The PPP came to
power again in 1993 and Fakhar Zamman became the Chairman of the Academy of
Letters, while Hanif Ramay became the Speaker of the Punjab legislature. Fakhar
did give the indigenous languages, and especially the theme of
anti-establishment resistance importance at a national conference of writers
held in Islamabad between 9-11 October 1994, but the Punjabi Sangat’s major
demand, that Punjabi should be made the medium of instruction at the primary
level, has not yet been fulfilled (Mirza 1993).
Reasons for the
Movement
We have seen that
Punjabi is given very little patronage by the state and has never been the
medium of instruction or the language of administration in Pakistan, despite
the fact that the apparatus of the state is dominated by Punjabis. This is
explained by some people with reference to character qualities; that the
Punjabis are generous and therefore tolerant of Urdu; that they are ashamed of
their language and impressed by Urdu; that they are insensitive to cultural
imperialism. But such explanations only indicate the emotional attitude of the
speaker. A more likely explanation is that Urdu serves to extend the power base
of the ruling elite. Indeed, as Shafqat Tanwir Mirza argued in a recent
interview, Punjabi is given less importance than other ethnic languages, so as
to impress upon their supporters that the sacrifice of one’s mother tongue,
which only the Punjabis give so willingly, is the real criterion of Pakistani
nationalism (Mirza 1994; 91).
But these rational,
instrumentalist explanations do not explain the behaviour of the activists of
the Punjabi movement, nor the Punjabi speakers emotional response towards their
language. We have seen how all activists claim that Punjabis despise their
language or, at best, hold it in affectionate contempx. A survey of students
attitudes, referred to earlier, concludes that:
The majority of Punjabi students (59%) display
negative attitudes to Punjabi. They generally do not approve of studying
Punjabi and there is no commitment to practice. It is also considered economically
unimportant (Mansoor 1993:119).
A similar survey of
attitudes towards Punjabis settled in England also suggested that it was
‘poorly evaluated even by its users ‘(Mobbs 1991,245). But does this mean that
the Punjabis consider their language a social stigma as the Lapps do theirs?
(Eidheim 1969). For the Lapps the fact that they ‘habitually use Lappish in
their daily life’ was secret, and some families even made the drastic decision
to prevent their children from learning Lappish’ (Eidheim 1969: 43; 55).
The Punjabis do not appear to shun Punjabi in private domains to that extent,
but educated ones do teach Urdu and English to their children and consider
these languages more sophisticated and cultured than Punjabi. However, unlike
the Lapps who are a minority vis & vis the Norwegians, the Punjabis are a
self-confident majority. Perhaps it is their confidence in all other spheres of
life which makes them negligent of their language. They do, however, enjoy
Punjabi songs and jokes. Moreover, written tales in prose and verse in this
language arc still in circulation at: the popular level. This is regarded by
some intellectuals as part of the resistance to alien cultural domination
(Saleem PC: December 1994). However, it does not seem to be part of an active
anti-establishment resistance movement, rather an indication that Urdu is still
alien for popular Punjabi culture. Punjabi is certainly a marker of intimacy
and informality. This means that the language is taken for granted as an
intimate part of identity though it has not been used to create a pressure
group to obtain more goods or power, i.e.. for instrumental reasons.
This is
understandable, because Punjabis already have power which ethnicity would only
threaten. This is why the Punjabi movement mobilizes people not for
instrumentalist but for sentimental reasons. The pre-modern sentimental
attachment to a distinctive way of life, conveniently symbolized by Punjabi, is
really what is at stake. The domination of Urdu, no matter how useful for the elite,
does take away the language and literature of the Punjab from the Punjabis. The
activists feel that this is a price which should not be paid; the others do not
take it seriously. Hence, the movement is a weak, middle-class phenomenon,
concentrated mainly in Lahore. It is unique among all the language movements of
Pakistan because it is the only one which is not motivated by rational,
goal-directed, instrumentalist reasons. But for all that, it is a modern
phenomenon. Had the use of Urdu and English in the domains of power not
alienated the Punjabi intelligentsia from its cultural roots—something which
could only have happened under modern conditions of formal schooling,
ubiquitous media, and the constant use of other languages—the Punjabi language
movement would not have started at all.
PS: THE REFERENCES
ARE IN THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE BOOK LANGUAGE AND POLITICS IN PAKISTAN(1996)
by Tariq Rahman
Source:
http://www.tariqrahman.net/language/The%20Punjabi%20Movement.htm
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