HYDERABAD, Nov 20: Deputy leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Makhdoom Jamiluzzaman, has said that tampering with the 1972 Language Act is tantamount to subversion of the Constitution.
Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Saturday, he said that reviving the language issue was a conspiracy to destroy peace in Sindh as had been done in 1972.
He said that no conspiracy against the Sindhi language would be tolerated and elements fomenting ethnic tension would be defeated.
He asked why the issue had been raised at a time when the people of Sindh were protesting against proposed construction of Kalabagh dam and greater Thal canal and rehabilitation of aliens in Sindh.
The PPP leader said that Sindhi was an ancient language and it had remained the medium of instruction in educational institutions for over 400 years.
He recalled that during the British Raj, Sindhi language had remained the medium of instruction at primary and secondary levels.
He said from the 1940 it was introduced upto the graduation level, in 1950 upto the master’s level and since 1954 upto the PhD level.
He quoted the article 251(3) of the Constitution under which provincial assemblies had been authorized to enact laws for development and promotion of their languages.
He said that it was made mandatory for the British officers posted in Sindh to pass Sindhi language examination within 18 months of their appointment.
He said that renowned educationist and former vice-chancellor of the Sindh University, Allama I.I. Qazi, had proposed that from class-IV to matriculation, it should be made compulsory for the Sindhis to study Urdu and for the Urdu-speaking students to study Sindhi language.
He said that Shaikh Ayaz had translated Shah-jo-Risalo into Urdu.
He said that under the order of late Prime Minister Z. A. Bhutto, Sindh Governor Rasool Bux Talpur had issued an ordinance declaring Urdu as the provincial language of Sindh along with Sindhi language.
He said that he had submitted two resolutions with the Sindh Assembly secretariat that the 1972 Language Act be enforced in letter and spirit and on the pattern of other provinces of Pakistan, educational boards of Sindh be taken out of hands of the governor and transferred to the education department.