Muslim Language Education in Pakistan and India (ms: 4281)

The Muslims of Pakistan and India live in multilingual societies (India has 387 languages and Pakistan 69 according to the Ethnologue 2000. For major Pakistani Muslims’ languages see Box-1. Thus, while Muslims in Arabic-speaking countries have to learn only classical Arabic through formal schooling, the Muslims of India and Pakistan learn the Arabic script for religious reasons and the language of the domains of power for instrumental ones. Thus language-learning has always been an important aspect of education in South Asia.

This article is divided into three parts dealing with the teaching of (1) The Classical languages (2) The modern languages (3) The Indigenous languages of the Muslims of Pakistan and India.

1. Classical Languages

1.1 Persian

Traditionally a Muslim child was supposed to have his bismillāh (beginning with the name of God) at the age of four years, four months and four days but usually this happened at seven years of age. Children were taught Persian, the marker of elitist identity and the language of the domains of power till the 19^th century, through the khaliqbārī (a rhyming primer giving Hindvī equivalents of Persian words) and the karīmā (a rhymed compendium of moral sayings) of Sa‘adī. Later, they were taught the Persian classics (Box-2). Letter writing was an important part of education and several models of composition (inshās) were taught.

Persian lost its power when it was substituted by English at the higher level and the vernacular languages of India at the lower ones between 1835 and 1837. After this it became either a specialized interest for scholars or historians or, which was more often the case, an easy option for students. At present both in India and Pakistan Persian is compulsory in some Islamic seminaries (madrasās) but the students do not learn how to use the language in real life situation. In secular institutions Persian is sometimes an option but its teaching is so deficient that students do not learn the language in any meaningful sense of the term. However, functionaries of the state are taught modern Persian in a fairly efficient manner. The Iranian embassy too has made arrangements to teach modern Persian in the Khonā-i Farhang centres in Pakistan. In short, Persian is now a foreign language in India and Pakistan which people acquire for instrumental reasons.

1.2 Arabic

The other classical language of Indian Muslims, Arabic, was always a religious, liturgical language which Muslims learnt to read as a religious obligation. It came to South Asia with Arab merchants who traded on the Malabar Coast and Sri Lanka before the Arab conquest of Sindh in 711-12 C. E. It was used extensively by religious figures, including the mystics (sūfīs) whose letters and other writings in Arabic are extant. Books on Arabic grammar and literature were taught in India in the 13 C. E (Box-3).

Arabic was taught in the madrasās which were attended by educated people intended for religious teaching (tadrīs), issuing religious decrees (iftāh), leading prayers, the judiciary (qazīs) and the bureaucracy (munshīs). The curricula of Arabic grammar and literature was standardized in the Dars-i Nizāmī by Mullā Nizām Uddīn of Sihalī (a town near Lucknow) (d. 1748).

During the British period, as secular educational institutions developed, Arabic became more strongly identified with Islamic education and the religious identity than before.

In present-day Pakistan and India Arabic is strongly associated with the Islamic identity. Its script is learnt in order to read the Qur’ān but the language itself is not learnt by ordinary Muslims. It is a major subject of studies in the madrasās where canonical texts, explained through commentaries and marginal exegesis in Arabic, are still used. However, these texts, ranging from as far back as the 12^th century, are used to provide a symbolic continuity with the past. Arabic is actually taught in the madrasās through modern, accessible texts such as are used in secular institutions (Box-4). The Pakistani state also uses Arabic as a marker of Islamic identity. During Zia ul Haq’s military rule (1977-1988), it was emphasized in the educational system. It is still compulsory in the state-controlled government schools at the middle level. These attempts, intended to counteract ethnicity and emphasize the Islamic identity of Pakistan, led to the strengthening of the Islamic pressure groups in Pakistan.

2. The Modern Languages

2.1 Urdu

Though Urdu, or rather its earlier form called ‘Hindī’, ‘Hinduī’ or ‘Hindvī’, has been traced back to the 11^th century, it is a modern language in its present form. There were simple books on religious and romantic themes in circulation among the common people since the 18^th century. Poets taught the language informally to their apprentice pupils. However, it was formally taught first by the British at the Fort William College where its early prose works and grammar were written. The British also introduced it in some schools from 1826 and widely in the 1840s when they established schools in U.P.

By the 1870s Urdu became an identity symbol of the elitist (ashrāf) Muslims who opposed Hindi in the Devanagari script as its rival. A number of institutions, such as Delhi College (established 1792), made it suitable as a medium of instruction at the higher level by translating works of English in it. There are ‘Urdu Universities’ both in India and Pakistan which are supposed to teach all subjects through the medium of Urdu but still teach some in English. Urdu is not used in the elitist domains of power in Pakistan where, like India, English continues to hold sway as it did in British times.

Urdu is, however, the major language of ordinary state schools in Pakistan except in parts of Sindh. Moreover, it is the language of the media and urban life in Pakistan. In India, although it is visible at the upper level of academies and university departments, its script is not taught effectively except in Kashmir where it is the official language. Muslims regard it as an identity symbol and complain that the market conditions discourage their children from learning its script. However, its spoken form is so close to the spoken Hindi of Indian cities and the entertainment sector (songs, films, dramas etc), that it is acquired naturally.

2.2 English

It is the major language of power since British rule in both India and Pakistan. Although none of the major Islamic ‘ulemā opposed its learning, ordinary Muslims regarded it as a symbol of alien rule and a threat to their religious identity. Thus, they did not study English in large numbers though some did as early as 1814. Travelers, such as Dean Mahomet (1759-1851), wrote in English after settling down in Britain in the 18^th century. Muslim prejudice against English was overcome by the efforts of Abdul Latīf (1828-93) in Bengal and Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-98) in North India including the areas now in Pakistan. These interventions, however, came after T. B. Macaulay’s ‘Minute’ of 1835 had officially established the ‘Anglicist’ policy of making English the language of higher and elitist education in India.

English is now regarded as the language of prestige and power and can only be acquired fluently in expensive private English-medium schools or cadet colleges (public schools on the lines of elitist English boarding house institutions). In Pakistan the latter type of institutions are influenced, generally through boards of governors, by the military and the bureaucracy. They are also subsidized by the state (see Box-5). There are also non-elitist, so-called ‘English-medium’, schools which charge lower fees than the elitist ones but still high enough to impose a painful burden on the upper working and lower middle class parents who send their children to learn English in them. In short, English serves as a marker of socio-economic class in Pakistan as well as India. While some of the more conservative Muslims, especially in the traditional madrasās, feel that this language undermines or dilutes the Islamic convictions and identity of Muslim children, most regard it as an empowering language and, hence, one which Muslims should acquire.

3. The Indigenous Languages

As the indigenous languages of most Muslims of India and Pakistan were neither the languages of power nor of wider communication, they were generally not taught formally. However, these languages were maintained for reasons of identity. Both Bengali and Sindhi developed into powerful identity symbols because of their ancient literary traditions and because they were used as the languages of the lower domains of power in the Bengal and Sindh respectively during British rule. The other languages of Pakistan—Punjābī, Pashtō, Balōchī, Brahvī etc—have also been used as markers of ethnic identity to mobilize a pressure group to force the Centre to distribute goods and services more equitably.

Except for Sindhi no indigenous language is used either in the domains of power, including the educational system, at all levels. Pashto is used as the medium of instruction up to class-5 in some parts of the country and in the madrasās. However, as students switch to Urdu in the schools after that level and the examinations of madrasā students are held in Urdu, they gain more proficiency in Urdu than Pashto. The major indigenous languages—Sindhī, Pashtō, Balōchi, Brahvī and Punjābī—are optional in some Pakistani non-elitist state schools and colleges. There are also masters degrees in all of them. Though language and ethnic activists demand more teaching and jobs in them, students opt for the utilitarian options of acquiring English and Urdu. However, some do study these languages as easy options just as they study the classical languages.

There are primers and textbooks in all the major indigenous languages. In addition to that there are also chapbooks on religious and romantic themes. Most Pakistani languages are still unwritten and even those which are written (Box-6) have little material suitable for teaching them. In the absence of a policy to teach the minor languages in Pakistan, there is no official support for developing such material.

In India, Kashmiri is the only major language besides Urdu, which is associated with Muslims though both are spoken by people of other religions too. The official language of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is Urdu which is taught through the schooling system. Kashmiri written in the Urdu script is also taught but either as an optional subject or at the higher level.

To conclude, Muslim language education has been governed by both instrumental and identity conscious reasons. The languages of power (Persian, English, Urdu) were learned because they were the languages of the domains of power while the languages of identity (Arabic for Muslim identity; Urdu for Pakistani nationalistic identity; indigenous languages for ethnic identities; and English for modern, educated, upper class identity) were learned, or merely acknowledged, for the maintenance, promotion or assertion of identity.

REFERENCES

These references are for further reading but they also cover most of the sources used in the preparation of this article.

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