When Pakistan was created in 1947, the language was chosen to be Urdu because Urdu had a rich heritage. it was used in the darbars of the Mughals and which is why it was also known as one of the "rich people languages" and people would love to learn about it. But as years are passing, not only have we lost interest in learning Urdu but anybody, who takes Urdu as a subject is socially unacceptable. The new generation knows nothing about Urdu, they converse and study in English and think of Urdu as a liability. The great Urdu writers like Quratulain Haider, Patras Bukhari and Deputy Nazir Ahmed are forgotten. English is our official language and it is important to learn it but Urdu is our national language, and our mother tongue, it has a great literature and poetry and has grown. We all want our children to excel at English but not Urdu, why?
QURATULAIN QASEEM,
Karachi, April 19.