Eighty years ago, a line was drawn — one that cut a state not just into two halves but tore apart people sharing the exact same culture. Decades later, while the trajectory of the two countries remains miles apart politically, they still share a deep connection owing to their common cultural identity.
In fact, a viral video from Pakistan’s Parliament recently showed a leader directly challenging the speaker’s directive to switch from Punjabi to Urdu, “Why should I not speak it? It is my mother tongue. To assess the depth of the issue, NDTV spoke to experts and citizens across the border to gather their perspectives. Ahmad Raza Punjabi, president of the Punjabi Parchar organisation in Lahore, Pakistan — which advocates for the official use and recognition of Punjabi at various levels in the Islamic Republic — reflected on this marginalisation. Despite the suppression of the language, grassroots resistance began to take shape. The battle has also reached the halls of parliament, where provincial leaders have begun standing up to challenge the status quo. Over the past few years, resolutions supporting the cause were passed in the Punjab Assembly to draft formal legislation. Recent announcements by provincial leaders — such as commitments by Punjab’s Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat — have promised to introduce Punjabi and Shahmukhi instruction into the official school curriculum. However, while announcements have been made, Ahmad noted that most promises have not translated from paper to ground reality: “The government has not provided substantial support to Punjabi anywhere. However, practically, no major work has been done on it yet. Ahmad argued that while the government acknowledges the problem, it does little to address it.
In 1989, a historic procession marched from Nasir Bagh to the Punjab Assembly in Lahore, marking the first major public demonstration for Punjabi linguistic rights in half a century. the movement reignited around 2011 with the resurgence of International Mother Language Day rallies Although momentum slowed during the 1990s. This momentum culminated in February 2019, when Justice Karim Bakhsh of the Lahore High Court ruled in favour of another petition filed by activists, officially directing the government to enact legislation making Punjabi a compulsory academic subject. Reflecting on the evolution of public support and institutional pushback, Ahmad Raza Punjabi noted: “Out of an estimated 120 million people in Pakistani Punjab, less than 10 million actively champion Punjabi language rights, while many still prioritise Urdu as the national language. Nevertheless, public engagement has expanded from a fraction of a per cent (0.1 per cent) in earlier years to an estimated 4-5 per cent today, actively advocating for Punjabi language education and development.
Last year, Maryam Nawaz, the current Punjab Chief Minister, made some statements regarding Punjabi culture and language, saying that our children should learn Punjabi.
