living language is more than an effective tool for day to day communication tool. It also acts as a building block in the societal makeup and has a crucial role in defining values, identity, culture and heritage of the people who speak and read and write it. Pakistan has great linguistic diversity with more than 70 languages spoken across its four provinces and federal territories.

Pashto, spoken by a vast majority of Pakhtun people, has been a potent symbol of Pashtun identity. Despite being spoken by more than 30 million people in Pakistan, the language is a at a crossroads currently, teetering on the brink of decline due to a web of educational policies, media portrayals and economic pressures.

The Pashtun linguistic identity is under threat from unjust ridicule attached to Pashto speakers. While languages like Spanish and French assign masculine and feminine forms—el and la, or le and la—Pashto does not adhere to such gendered distinctions. Urdu, meanwhile, has a highly gendered structure, requiring verbs and pronouns to follow the gender. The distinction between, for instance, gaya (he went) and gayi (she went) can be a challenge for native Pashto speakers, whose own language does not make such a distinction. This unfamiliarity with gendered language forms, frequently leads to linguistic prejudice and exclusion that belittles people for having a different native language.

Rather than recognising an inherent difference between the two languages, the struggles of a people conversing in a second/ third language are attributed to a lack of mental capacity. Zia Ullah Hamdard, an MPhil scholar at the University of Peshawar, says, “The problem is that that the state of Pakistan has imposed a ‘national’ language on people with vastly different native languages. This tends to relegate their languages and identities to a lesser level.” The linguistic prejudice resulting from such practices fails to acknowledge the cultural values inherent in the languages and how various languages operate within their own set of rules and cultural contexts. This reinforces harmful stereotypes and perpetuates discrimination.

A key factor that can contribute to the decline of Pashto is its negative portrayal in mainstream media. Dr Barkat Shah, an associate professor at the University of Balochistan, says that many people appearing on regulated media, such as television and newspapers, stereotypes Pashto speakers as violent or illiterate. “These stereotypes get ingrained in the consciousness of the people regularly consuming the media,” Dr Shah says. “Pashto speakers are frequently demonised. This not only tarnishes their image but also impacts the language.” Some television dramas, for example, have associated Pashto-speaking characters with extremism or outdated cultural practices. These stereotypes are rooted in historical myths that brand Pashto as a “language from hell,” says Dr Shah.

Mir Hasan Athal, educationist and writer, says that some social media platforms are being used to celebrate and reclaim Pashto. “Pashto speakers can stick to their language and freely express their creativity using YouTube and Facebook,” Athal says. He says the spread of internet and information technology is helping people bust the myths like Pashto being a harsh language or a woman’s language. He says many digital content creators are using social media to point out and correct misconceptions about the tonal qualities of the Pashto language.

Athal says it is unfortunate that children in most Pashto speaking families lack access to formal education and institutional support. Instead, he says, particularly in urban areas, children are often encouraged to speak Urdu and English. As a result, he says, the next generation might have fewer people at home with the language of their forefathers.

He also says learning Pashto and being good at it does not open doors for employment opportunities. He says such economic exclusion further marginalises. Athal says in the current circumstances, Pashto cannot compete with Urdu and English.

To reverse this decline in Pashto’s fortune, it is important to advocate for effective state policies that support the inclusion of Pashto in education and public life. Political systems and structures should be re-evaluated to consider providing regional languages, such as Pashto with the official recognition alongside Urdu.

Projects such as Connect the Disconnected advocate for educational reforms that aim to provide access to education in rural areas and upholding the cultural heritage in the cities. This organisation is currently operating in Balochistan and the tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It supports students from disadvantaged backgrounds. It provides educational facilities, career counselling and admission guidelines and holds free seminars. It holds that Pashto should be taught at government schools as a second language. It also wants the government to set up language centres where regional languages are taught. It wants awareness campaigns to counter cultural stereotypes and educational reforms to ensure that Pashto is recognised not only as a means of communication but also as a vehicle for cultural transmission and identity.

It insists that the preservation of Pashto—and other regional languages- should be embraced as state agenda.