‘Punjab’s identity depends on census results’

LAHORE: Chairman World Punjabi Congress Fakhar Zaman has urged the Punjabis to write Punjabi as their mother tongue in the national census. 

He said there is a conspiracy by certain quarters who are asking the Punjabi youth specially to give Urdu as their mother tongue because they generally speak Urdu. Zaman clarified that speaking in Urdu by the youth and the middle class does not mean that their mother tongue is Urdu and not Punjabi.

The mothers of this young population are mostly brought up in Punjabi families and their medium of expression with parents and siblings is Punjabi. The Punjab’s identity depends on the results of this census which we hope will be carried out efficiently and honestly under the supervision of Pakistan Army, he said. 

Fakhar Zaman clarified that he considers Urdu the national language like other languages spoken in the four provinces and that Urdu is a beautiful language which has created genius like Ghalib, Iqbal, Saadat Hassan Manto, Faiz and Munir Niazi.

He said Punjabi is the tenth largely spoken language according to UNESCO statistics but unfortunately it is not a medium of instruction in Punjab; neither there is a Punjabi University, nor any more facilities for the Punjabi journals.