I AM sure I am not alone in feeling that we are, inadvertently or otherwise, moving away from Urdu that happens to be the national language. One needs to look no further than advertisements on television screens and other forms of media to know where we are headed in this context. Pathetic copy is the unfortunate characteristic of most advertising campaigns produced by the supposedly creative agencies and approved by the self-acclaimed socially responsible clients. It’s neither English nor Urdu. It is a case of even the Minglish having gone wrong.

Today, the young generation is neither able to speak Urdu fluently nor English. I believe this communication barrier has a lot to do with what is seen on the television and practised on the social media. There is zero to minimal access to quality content for children. Even the jingles are not age-appropriate.

The advertising agencies and the clients need to reconsider their priorities. They should ensure that we do not end up completely altering the beauty and the texture of Urdu, our national language.

Sidra Jangda
Karachi

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2022