Amjad Islam Amjad’s interview was refreshing and very informative. The famous Urdu poet has raised some important issues regarding the Urdu language. Unfortunately, the younger generation of the subcontinent does not realize the importance of its cultural heritage. We cannot deny the importance of English as the lingua franca, but that should not make us part our ways from our indigenous languages. Without a strong bond with our own language(s), we can never properly understand our national past and a nation that does not value its past has a bleak future. People may argue that what if the past has nothing to be proud of. Such a mentality is basically the product of inferiority complex. Perhaps due to the colonial rule, we tend to appreciate everything western or foreign. The subcontinent has a rich cultural and linguistic heritage and the Urdu language is the crown jewel in that treasure.

The other day, I had a conversation with my sister on the importance of language with a particular reference to Amjad Islam Amjad’s interview. She surprised me by saying, “We love Urdu but we don’t need it.”

Before I could confront her, referring to a video that has gone viral showing a homeless person in Lahore speaking fluent English, she said that had he explained his ordeal in Urdu, the video would not have elicited such a huge response. “He got noticed because he spoke English fluently, the language of the masters, as you would like to put it.”

Most of our youth holds, more or less, similar views. The question is: Who is to blame for this situation? Should we only pass the buck to the literati? No. Such attitudes take decades to become part of human psyches. I don’t like to politicize every issue but truth be told the political dynamics of the subcontinent have played a huge role in this regard.

The Hindi, Urdu issue in India contributed to the decline of Urdu as a language. In Pakistan, Urdu faced different problems that have affected the overall growth of Urdu literature and language.