'URDU IMPERIALISM' IN PAKISTAN: REALITY OR MYTH

Syeda Sughra NAQVI
HEC Scholar at Université de La Rochelle, France, Email: punjtani512@ymail.com

Abstract
The natural dominant status of Urdu language is a reality in the multilingual society of Pakistan. The mother language of only 7.59% immigrants is the national language of the country that provides opportunity to traditional rivals of Pakistan to provoke ethnic crises, hiding the reality of its being the only source of country-wide communication. The paper highlights the considerable criticism of the language policy in Pakistan that is endangering the ‘cultural capital’ of local and regional languages through Urdu imperialism. However, contrary to the controversial criticism of its status, the focus of the paper is to argue that Urdu is a natural phenomenon of the region that supports free integrity of the nation and not an imposed one. Its origin, evolution and development as a lingua franca is as natural as the status of English language as a lingua franca for the world. Therefore, it suggests the research for solutions to revive the cultural capital through reforms in education policy in collaboration with language policy rather than criticizing the status of Urdu as the national language, which is the best choice, indeed, because the natural phenomenon of Urdu is not a myth.

Keywords: Multilingualism, Urdu Imperialism, reality/myth, cultural capital