PM, president to deliver speeches in Urdu on foreign trips, SC told

E-Paper | March 13, 2026

ISLAMABAD: The federal government told the Supreme Court on Friday that the prime minister had issued directives to grant official status to Urdu language, after which the president, the prime minister, federal and provincial ministers, and government employees will deliver speeches in Urdu — whether inside or outside the country.

Appearing before a three-member bench headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Federal Secretary for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Azam said following orders from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, websites for government institutions, utility bills, driving licences, passports and other documents will carry text in Urdu as well.

Earlier, the federal government had asked heads of departments to implement a cabinet decision to gradually introduce Urdu as the official language.

Take a look: Govt departments asked to gradually introduce Urdu as official language.

According to a circular, heads of government departments have also been asked to propose ways through which Urdu could replace English as the official language.

On May 14 this year, the cabinet decided that Urdu would replace English as the official language as stated in Article 251 of the Constitution.

Article 251 of the Constitution

(1) The National language of Pakistan is Urdu, and arrangements shall be made for its being used for official and other purposes within fifteen years from the commencing day.

(2) Subject to clause (1), the English language may be used for official purposes until arrangements are made for its replacement by Urdu.

(3) Without prejudice to the status of the national language, a provincial assembly may by law prescribe measures for the teaching, promotion and use of a provincial language in addition to the national language.

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Haider Farooq

Jul 10, 2015 07:27pm

Finally...

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sohail

Jul 10, 2015 07:30pm

This should have been done since inception of Pakistan , however its never too late , we all shall feel pride in it and don't hesitate to communicate in Urdu , with this I feud also suggest that national dress i-e shalwar kameez a/w. Waist coat shall also be given its lost glory and pride

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Jaan

Jul 10, 2015 07:32pm

Great idea. Urdu is such a beautiful language.

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ali

Jul 10, 2015 07:37pm

Finally..Chinese, Germans, Japanese..all speak their mother tongues. We make fun of people who speak URDU.

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rana1

Jul 10, 2015 07:39pm

If China uses its national language on every forum and be heard so why cannot we?Timely move to show the rest of the world that we and our language matters.

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baba jee

Jul 10, 2015 07:40pm

Urdu is and will remain our national language. Efforts to implement it are much appreciated. However in order to remain relevant in the international human resource recruitment market we should continue to promote English side by side. It is because of our good knowledge of English that makes are youth marketable in the global recruitment market. Our neighbors in India are a good example of this.

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Blue Saffron

Jul 10, 2015 07:40pm

I disagree. Urdu and English should both be given equal emphasis. We are talking about connectivity and harmony not isolationism. I also believe that the way and the condition in which our masses wear shalwar kameez is a disgrace to Pakistan. They look like beggars. Particularly with one of their hands down there scratching.

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Blue Saffron

Jul 10, 2015 07:41pm

70 years have passed and we are still struggling to find our identity.

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Realist

Jul 10, 2015 07:42pm

Learn from Infia. Modi always delivers his speeches in hindi and wears Indian dress.

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haris

Jul 10, 2015 07:53pm

At last, Urdu has found her deserving respect. Thank you China, Germany, Korea France, Japan, Iran, Afghanistan, Spain etc. for showing the World the true affection of one's own language.

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Asad

Jul 10, 2015 07:57pm

ridiculous stuff. Wasting time and efforts which can be directed in more useful things

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Asgher Ali

Jul 10, 2015 08:01pm

Hopefully it will remove a lot of discriminative labels. In my circle of Pakistani friends, I was always referred to as "Urdu speaking" Pakistani, which I resented so much!

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baakhlaq

Jul 10, 2015 08:16pm

Another setback to progress and learning.

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Nasir Khan

Jul 10, 2015 08:23pm

Urdu is our Identity, but we need English as well. we can find to many books in urdu on poetry , but not Physics, computer and chemistry etc.

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IMKhan

Jul 10, 2015 08:24pm

@baakhlaq ... English is not a sign of progress, it might be a tool for communication with outside world at best.

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Iqbal khan

Jul 10, 2015 08:29pm

@Blue Saffron I guess that scratching with hand is our identity.We need electricity / water and food and not these useless notions to show the performance.

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tariq

Jul 10, 2015 08:30pm

so does Urdu have the books and research material to keep up with the fast moving world or will Pakistan be left in the dark. One way to control and rule the masses is to keep them dumb and uneducated!

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usman

Jul 10, 2015 08:32pm

@IMKhan the reason we need English is that we are not developed. Our students need to go abroad to get good education.

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Fairy tale article

Jul 10, 2015 08:32pm

eliminate english just like germans

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jamal

Jul 10, 2015 08:33pm

Just like trying to make Friday a public holiday. As for the Chinese, at given time time 300 million Chinese are learning English and the demand for English teachers in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, South America is booming. You cannot undo the past by regressing in the future. Urdu and English should co-exist.

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Patriotic

Jul 10, 2015 08:45pm

Why?

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Sajjad

Jul 10, 2015 09:05pm

Bad Decision! Urdu is a beautiful language but imposing it this way is not right.

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Bhai Jan

Jul 10, 2015 09:06pm

First become a world power then exert your language on others. World listens to China, France, Germany because these countries control the world economy, technology, trade, and finance. They can afford to use their own languages. But how would you impress and deal with International forums if you go there to borrow, beg, and seek help and expect the International media to support you. Be logical. Gain International prominence in various fields and then speak in your own tongue. Only then they will listen. Sure make Urdu and English a bilingual language in Pakistan as USA has English Spanish, Canada has English French as major languages of communication .

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Jul 10, 2015 09:09pm

Appreciations friends after all it's OUR language

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Matahir Shah

Jul 10, 2015 09:21pm

Great act.!! i really appreciate it.. i have hoping for it since very long atlast someone has took a step

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AC Osama Warraich

Jul 10, 2015 09:22pm

I do not support this move whatsoever. The imposition of Urdu as a national language was done without the input of the other linguistic groups in the country back in 1947. If that is the case then Pashto, Balochi, Khowar, Siraiki, Sindhi, Balti, Shina, Ormur, Hindko,etc should also be made national languages. This move will almost surely result in a severe backlash in the Iranian regions of Pakistan, not to mention it will make applying for Visas and other documentation a nuisance because we would be required to have official certified translations. I will do all I can to resist.

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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad

Jul 10, 2015 09:25pm

Too little, too late.

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Ali Awan

Jul 10, 2015 09:27pm

I think both languages should be promoted. Urdu is our identity but if we want to learn modern sciences English is absolutely indispensable.

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haque khan

Jul 10, 2015 09:31pm

Urdu is a beautiful language, but most advanced research material is in English language and it is also the language of the world. Very bad step and I hope it never succeed................

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frkh

Jul 10, 2015 09:49pm

Not a good idea. Vital communication will be lost in translation and will be maliciously mutated to convey utterly deceiving message. It is imperative that we master the English language in order to convey precise messages and comprehend the machinations of leading powers which are predominantly English speaking nations.

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Jul 10, 2015 09:52pm

excellent idea ..

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Awan

Jul 10, 2015 10:01pm

@ali Urdu is the mother tongue of less than 10 percent population for your information. Infact Urdu is imposed on the whole population to replace their mother tongues. In my view English is more beneficial than Urdu language in all terms.

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KAlam

Jul 10, 2015 10:02pm

There is a need for more official languages like punjabi sindhi pashto as in many countries like Canada etc

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Human

Jul 10, 2015 10:08pm

almost 70 yrs since independence and we're still playing with languages

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Sam

Jul 10, 2015 10:36pm

And same should be done in offices in Sindh

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daada

Jul 10, 2015 10:45pm

Good news! please implement asap!

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Rashid Ishaq

Jul 10, 2015 10:49pm

the most decent language in the world

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Atif Khan

Jul 10, 2015 10:53pm

Great move. It will restore the self-confidence of people who speak in front of international media and reassure them that what is important is the substance and quality of thought (not the english language)

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Abbas Ali

Jul 10, 2015 11:11pm

My mother tongue is urdu. But I am totally against the idea. It will destroy the fabric of the left over Pakistan. Urdu is not and should not be the national language of Pakistan.

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TechnoKraft

Jul 10, 2015 11:12pm

"Urdu" comes from a Turkish word Ordu meaning military camp. Hence the notion "Lashkari Zaban" and comes from Persian, Arabic and Turkish. It has no ancestral linkages to Hindi or Sanskrit but it is perceived as the language of the elites in Hindustan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh due to its style, flow, sophistication and powerful poetry Many cool Turkish words hv slowly faded away but can be found in old ptv plays or novels for example the word "Ama" meaning "but" or "Tamam" meaning "OK" like kapish

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sfoman

Jul 10, 2015 11:13pm

utter nonsense. Wasting time on unnecessary things. There is nothing wrong with giving speeches in English at international forums. In facts it is easier to get our point across. After all we do have English in our schools, colleges and offices so what is the big deal. At home we should speak in Urdu.

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Fazl Rab

Jul 10, 2015 11:14pm

The educated class in Pakistan has lost its ability to speak Urdu without mixing English with it. Just listen to TV anchors/newscasters/commentators and think of Shakil Badayuni/Anwar Behzad of the newly established Radio Pakistan. Now, even Mehr Abbasi ends her transmission with"Good Night" and takes"Short Breaks" instead of "Waqfa".

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Fazl Rab

Jul 10, 2015 11:20pm

@Bhai Jan ! How do Iran, Turkey or VietNam do it? Iran also observes Friday as closed holiday.

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M.Malik

Jul 10, 2015 11:53pm

@IMKhan. Very true. Although recognizing the emerging power of China, American schools have already teaching Chinese to kids, to succeed in the 21st century!

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Afzal

Jul 11, 2015 12:02am

Great decision.

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Afzal

Jul 11, 2015 12:04am

And now people will understand official docements issued to them

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TRUTH

Jul 11, 2015 12:04am

Chinese, Russians, Germans, Japanese, Arabs, etc used their own language to deliver info and speechs. Written Urdu is harder to understand tho for overseas Pakistanis. Most Pakistanis from Pakistan use English to deliver Urdu.

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Guest

Jul 11, 2015 12:11am

Did jinnah speak in Urdu? Languages don't mean anything unless the meaning they carry

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Pashtunyar

Jul 11, 2015 12:13am

I as a pashtun would rather speak english than urdu!

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Aleem

Jul 11, 2015 12:17am

@Nasir Khan So translate the works in Urdu so these works of science, math, physics can reach the 90% of the Pakistani population who cannot read English. Take a lesson from the Turks or the Iranians. Every single research paper/document/journal of interest is translated in native language and they are advancing very quickly.

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Amer Rao TORONTO

Jul 11, 2015 01:00am

Language is not much important, then our Governments Loyalty, Sincerity and Patriotism.

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Jul 11, 2015 01:15am

I think before making Urdu an official communication language for Government officals, the government should take solid steps to get their country recognized at every forum. Don't compare your self with China, Germany or Japan , the world listens to them since they have achieved in this global village. In 2015 no body listens to Pakistan in "English" after Urdu there would be another excuse. I am totally in support of Urdu, since it a beautiful language and should be promoted at all levels. But please don't use it as a shield for your own language barriers.

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Jul 11, 2015 01:17am

@rana1 But for that we should matter in the world. As it is no one listens to us in English who will listen to us in Urdu? Dream on.

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 01:21am

This will get the nation pulling on the same oars.

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Jul 11, 2015 01:22am

Well, well, well. World is going ahead in top gear, and here we are going backwards in reverse gear. This is nothing but a ploy to keep masses uneducated and jaahil, so as to keep them under their thumbs.

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 01:24am

@sohail .... This is not about pride. This is not about pomp and parade. This is about unity of purpose and participation.

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 01:29am

@rana1 ... Mao Ze-dong mandated that all of China be taught in the Mandarin dialect of Chinese in order to unify the nation. China speaks many tongues. Mandarin is the language of the educated Chinese. Whatever their first language they all speak Mandarin. Mandarin = Chinese.

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 01:32am

@baba jee ... Thank Dawn for giving you a daily bilingual newspaper. Otherwise Pakistanis would not have had full participation in government.

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 01:33am

@Blue Saffron In other words, you don't speak any Urdu.

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 01:56am

@Asgher Ali .... I feel your pain. You are certainly not alone in that. From childhood young peoples' main goal is to just fit in with the others at school. It hurts to be an outsider, but it does build character. In How Green Was My Valley, by Richard Llewellyn, a small girl went out to recess wearning a sign around her neck, "I will not speak Welsh in school."

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 02:08am

@Nasir Khan .... and not my three favorites: A Sailor's Life, A Daughter of Han, and My Life In The Mafia. If you want to be China's little brother, than publish the book Wild Swans, by Jung Chang in Urdu for those who will never read it in English. The author lives and teaches in London. It is the best book ever written about the ruthlessness of Japan's invasion of China, and the subsequent pain and politics of the Cultural Revolution through a young woman's eyewitness accounts. Then you will understand the Chinese soul.

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Jul 11, 2015 02:12am

Although Urdu is the language spoken in Pakistan but I dont think more than 5% of the population, either be Engineers, MBA or MBBS can write it or compose a publishable or even legal draft in Urdu...

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Khalid

Jul 11, 2015 02:17am

English is our official language now and has been for over 65 years and look at how many people can speak it properly. I am amazed at the inability of Pakistanis to put two sentences together in English. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan highlighted exactly the same thing more than 100 years ago. To be able to do anything in this global village, do you think we are going abroad to speak Urdu to conduct business meetings?. The ONLY people in the world who can understand us, our neighbours, we don't even have them on our radars as our customers!!. Why are we in such a rush to run backwards?. I guess we are happy providing millions of illiterates as unskilled labours to the middle east for 200US Dollars a month. Why educate ourselves and build an English speaking younger generation?. We are happy earning 200 dollars a month in Saudi Arabia.

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 02:17am

@IMKhan ... Literature is a tool used to get all of us deeply interested in our world, and committed to the upkeep of civilization whatever the language.

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 02:22am

@usman .... Engineering textbooks were written in German, and French was the international language after World War I.

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Azam A Siddiqui

Jul 11, 2015 02:22am

All Pakistani languages should use the same Urdu technical terms while translating Science and technology.There is nothing wrong in establishing relationship with the universities of Indonesia,Iran or India with respect to Urdu development.Our language universities should take the lead in this regard.Pakistan took 20years to produce the Encyclopaedia of Islam.For Urdu Development there should be a programme and a budget and close supervision.All universities should advise the goverments in this regard.At least 30%of the budget should be reserved for translation of Tecnology works.

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 02:26am

@tariq ... The problem is that printing books is very expensive in the world today. If any industry in Pakistan needs to be subsidized by government it would be book publishing firms.

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 02:27am

@Fairy tale article .... The Germans tried to eliminate English in two wars and failed miserably.

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 02:35am

@Human ... India had over 600 languages as recently as 1930.

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Abu-Salmaan

Jul 11, 2015 02:38am

@sohail I agree with you fully and this will also cover all the deficiencies our learned and most educated rulers and politicians have in speaking English, so what if it is international language but not their mother tongue.

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Iqbal

Jul 11, 2015 02:43am

Excellent idea. May be now we will get some IQBAL type poets in few years.

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 02:44am

@Awan .... English was used as the language of administration by the Indian bureaucracy because there were just too many languages for the British to do business in. During the 18th century Finland was administered by Sweden, in written Swedish, simply because Finns had no written language of any kind.

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 02:48am

@KAlam .... The children of immigrants will lose those languages in Canada, etc because they won't be needed. I have seen it 10,000 times since the end of World War II.

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 02:50am

@Atif Khan .... That's true.

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Ramin

Jul 11, 2015 02:59am

Finally!!!! now they should also get National Language Promotion Department to monitor the usage of language on New channels and new papers so proper vocabulary is promoted and monitored. Same should be the case for regional language. Each language is beautiful.

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Arsalan Qureshil

Jul 11, 2015 03:00am

Good initiative

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 03:04am

@M.Malik .... Yes. That is true. In public schools, Catholic schools and private schools. Students are taught spoken Chinese and written pin-yin. If you do not have a good ear for music or are hard of hearing spoken Mandarin will be difficult because Chinese is a tonal language.

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KeyPoints

Jul 11, 2015 03:16am

Excellent idea to promote national language & enhance national pride.

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Umar Aftab

Jul 11, 2015 03:22am

Instead of progressing towards internationally recognized languages Pakistan is trying to regress to a language that is doomed to fail. Try getting jobs with Urdu in GCC or the West.

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NeutraView

Jul 11, 2015 03:26am

Both Urdu and English together should be official languages.

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atif

Jul 11, 2015 03:29am

oh glad, hope the decision of supreme court was written in urdu??????????? and had nawaz shareef been capable of speaking english correctly, it would have been slightly acceptable to hear him in english; sadly, that was not at all the case

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AinOther

Jul 11, 2015 03:32am

Urdu Mubarak!

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atif

Jul 11, 2015 03:34am

@Bhai Jan oh! u mean to say chinese started speaking chinese a couple of decades ago? or the germans were english speaking ppl a century ago? no one here says that english should not be learnt, but our leaders should be able to communicate in their own language with confidence instead of trying to read a speech written by someone else. speaking good english does not make u a good leader of a nation, out of which may be more than 90% cannot speak it.

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Shujaat Khan

Jul 11, 2015 03:36am

Most of Pakistani leaders and politicians are Zero in English and Zero in Urdu also. Public speaking is an art and they are void of it.

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Cyrus

Jul 11, 2015 03:36am

@Afzal .... Good Point.

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Meethi Mithayee

Jul 11, 2015 03:37am

@Blue Saffron : hilarious, you made my day even though I disagree with you

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Shujaat Khan

Jul 11, 2015 03:44am

@Fairy tale article 90% Germans speak English 70% on conversational level.

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Kala Ingrez - کالا انگریز - काला अंग्रेज - কালো ইংরাজি

Jul 11, 2015 04:14am

Wow! finally someone with guts to take the correct step, now we can have people who can understand the justice system instead of being at the mercy of people who themselves can't understand English properly but have to work in English - Excellent move by the government - Indeed, Nawaz Sharif will be a legend for yet another reason in the history of Pakistan I would also suggest to start introducing Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Persian and Chinese as optional elective courses in the colleges and university to produce a serious workforce for the region - English as a global language will always have her own place in Pakistan.

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Ravi Vancouver

Jul 11, 2015 04:15am

@haque khan You are right, first develop Urdu and have all technical and science books and literature be translated into Urdu. Then it will be a right step otherwise it will be a negative step, to force Urdu on everybody. China is investing lot of money to teach its population English as it a an international language for books specially related to technical and scientific subjects.

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ateeq

Jul 11, 2015 04:20am

We as a nation actually feel shame to speak in Urdu, i think it is the same Urdu for which our elders had made relentless efforts to save it from eroding. Despite clearly mentioned in article 251 of the constitution that Urdu would be made national language within 15 years of inception of Pakistan, this nation fails to implement it.

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Laeeq Ahmed

Jul 11, 2015 04:20am

@Blue Saffron The beggar nature is in mind and not in clothes.

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Jawwad

Jul 11, 2015 04:28am

Der Aye Durust Aye or the inability of most Pakistani lawmakers to express themselves in a foreign language?

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Nadar khan

Jul 11, 2015 04:29am

We feel proud if some one speaks English or delivers lecture in English .moreover,Urdu is less likely used in good standard education institutions .we need to change our education curriculum to Urdu if we implement this new rule .

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Anwar Amjad

Jul 11, 2015 04:35am

@AC Osama Warraich How many languages are spoken in Russia or China and for that matter most other large countries with multi-ethnic populations but even then they have only one national language so that the whole country can communicate with each other. Having a dozen national languages simply means the country does not have a national language.

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shela

Jul 11, 2015 04:52am

Loll , urdu is our medium of conversation all the time. Why wasting energy on this issue, secondly why we always give examples of China,German etc see how developed they are and if they speak.in their own language ppl listen them even learn their language. Lastly I dont like this initiative at all...

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Jul 11, 2015 05:11am

Anyone wanna have a bet it's not happening.

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Jul 11, 2015 05:17am

Why Urdu.

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Aurangzeb

Jul 11, 2015 05:40am

Finally some dignity specially when none of the PM speak English well enough!

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peace lover

Jul 11, 2015 05:51am

Great move if implemented

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shair khan

Jul 11, 2015 07:02am

Bad move.

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Abu-Salmaan

Jul 11, 2015 08:53am

@tariq Well written, and I know the standard of Urdu also being spoken and understood by the new generation. The so called modern Urdu is 30 percent English because they can't speak or understand pure Urdu. Before making urdu official language it is necessary to educate people and raise the standard of Urdu by teaching Arabic and Persian beside it because many Urdu words have been derived from Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian etc..

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Engineer Jameel Ahmad Malik

Jul 11, 2015 11:12am

Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP) welcome the decision of making Urdu as official language.

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Jyotika

Jul 11, 2015 11:55am

What happens to Sindhi and Punjabi and other provincial languages? I know they are spoken in Pak, but are they thought too? Can younger generation read / write Sindhi / Punjabi?

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Zafar Iqbal

Jul 11, 2015 12:44pm

Official status should be given to Urdu : ordered by Supreme Court , Kaun jeeta hai tere zulf ke sar hone tak.

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Ikhlaq shah

Jul 11, 2015 03:46pm

It should be in Punjabi instead.

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Aima Abdullah

Jul 11, 2015 05:48pm

Critical initiative. It is not just a matter of pride in one's mother tongue but also that of equal opportunity. Efforts should continue in the direction until elimination of elitism from government, bureaucratic and education system because not everyone has access to English medium schools. A lot of talent goes to waste for language incompatibility. Primary education should be uniform and in regional language in all regions for better understanding of the children as is proven by various cognitive researches, with rigorous training in the separate subjects of urdu and english. There is precedence for this in many countries.

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Muddassir Ali

Jul 11, 2015 11:59pm

It is far sighted & fruit full initiative by Govt to make Urdu as official language .. it will give self esteem & self respect to nation at all & unity & harmony too .. however one cannot deny the importance of English in present day world.

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