THE world recently observed the International Mother Language Day (Feb 21) to celebrate linguistic and cultural diversity, and to promote multilingualism. The theme this year was, ‘Fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society’.

We must highlight the importance of a multilingual society, language plurality and reconciliation in the country. The state’s unitary linguistic nationalism has marginalised all indigenous languages of Pakistan. There is an urgent need for the state to recognise linguistic plurality.

The narrative of ‘lingua franca’ used by the state to create hegemonic space for a single language is a myth. It should be done away with, making adequate space for all languages being spoken in Pakistan to survive and flourish.

Wider linguistic and cultural recog- nition is the very essence of federalism and will strengthen the country. The government should set up a national commission on languages to decide the matter. The proposed commission should comprise intellectuals, writers, mediapersons, teachers, goverment officials and other stakeholders. Let us all work together to foster multilingualism.

Dr Mehboob Shaikh
Karachi

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2023