HYDERABAD: Sindhi language experts, scholars, writers, intellectuals and lawyers have expressed grave concern over giving the national status to Urdu.

Under sub-section 3 of Article 251 of the Constitution, they demanded the Sindhi language be declared the official language in Sindh and be given the status of a national language of the country. They said that other languages must also be given the same status and measures must be taken to promote them.

They said a language commission must be formed to take decisions about languages and national education policy. They stressed that a Sindhi university should also be established like Urdu university.

They were speaking at a programme about challenges being faced by the Sindhi language in the modern era and constitutional solutions to proposals, held at the Sindhi Language Authority (SLA) Hyderabad on Thursday, according to an SLA press release.

Sindhi language expert Dr Ghulam Ali Allana said the government took no action to award official status to Sindhi.

That’s why, it was not being used in courts and offices, he added.

He described bureaucrats as the main hurdle in this regard. They were unwilling to do it, he said, adding that the Urdu-speaking people were not against the Sindhi language.

He stressed that Sindhi writers, scholars and other people should think about changing the status of Sindhi. He suggested that a legal committee be formed to find out a solution to this problem. He demanded that all languages, including Sindhi, be given the status of national languages.

Sindhi Adabi Sangat (SAS) secretary general Dr Mushtaq Phul said that all institutions, including SLA, were busy in holding seminars and conferences. They must instead play a role in promoting the language.

He said incompetent teachers were destroying the Sindhi language and education. Books must be written as to how to teach Sindhi to children. He said the SLA had to work hard and play some role in promoting Sindhi.

SLA chairman Sarfaraz Rajar said the authority was making efforts for the growth and development of the Sindhi language.

This gathering was aimed at finding some solutions to give status of the national language to the Sindhi language.

He said a committee comprising scholars and lawyers was formed to give the Sindhi language an official status, adding that a meeting of this committee would be convened soon in this regard.

Noted lawyer Yousuf Leghari said the decision of the Supreme Court about awarding the national language status to Urdu posed a threat to Sindhi. He said that after this decision, the importance of Sindhi would diminish and Urdu would become a compulsion.

Others who also spoke included Shaukat Hussain Shoro, Ishtiaque Ansari, Yousuf Sindhi, Madad Ali Sindhi, Gul Mohammad Umrani, Taj Joyo and Sohail Sangi.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2015

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