Islamabad-A three-day policy dialogue on language began at Higher Education Commission (HEC) yesterday to initiate a debate on devising a comprehensive national language policy.
The HEC and Air University jointly organised the event, while policy guidelines finalized in the dialogue will be sent to legislature to execute the Supreme Court (SC) orders.
Addressing to the conference, Additional Secretary Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Zaffar Nasrullah said that discussing a language is always a sensitive issue as it involves sentiments, culture and ethnicity. “World nations, whether Germans, French, Bengalis, or Hindus, have their own languages and they promote them in different manners,” he said.
He also said that Urdu and English are common languages spoken in Pakistan and Urdu, apart from being a vital language, is also an important element of national integrity.
Zaffar Nasrullah while terming ‘E-language’ a new language in the modern world, called for adopting a pragmatic approach towards the linguistic development in the country.
Executive Director HEC Dr Arshad Ali stressed the need for promoting use of Urdu in general discussions, meetings, conferences and seminars to give it a righteous status. He also maintained that a practical approach is necessary to implement any policy.
“We need to act in by practical terms being mentally convinced, emotionally attached and intentionally prepared to do what we think,” he emphasized.
Referring to the Supreme Court order, he said that National Language Authority, Federal Urdu University, provincial education departments and experts of languages serving in language departments of different universities should also be involved in the brainstorming process so as to benefit from their experiences.
He urged the participants to look into the international trends pertaining to languages so that the young generation could keep pace with the world. 
Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, Dr Wasima Shahzad said that language is a tool to express one’s identity and represent one’s social and economic fabric, adding that it builds emotions and creates art and literature.
Shedding light on the significance of national language, Urdu, she described various lingual differences and lingual movements witnessed in Pakistan in the past years. 
While elaborating the purpose of the conference, Dr. Zafarullah Qureshi said that the Dialogue is a move that eyes change in the entire linguistic landscape.
He added that it aims at bringing linguists and experts together to contemplate over the hurdles lying in execution of the Supreme Court order of implementing Urdu as an official language.
The first and second days of the conference are reserved for Focused Group Sessions engaging national and international scholars from academia, media, law, banking, aviation, governmental organizations and other institutions to provide policy recommendations in respect of the status of English, Urdu and regional languages in Pakistan. On the third day, recommendations and a detailed report will be drafted.