Angrez Chale Gaye: Why Are We Still Slaves to a Foreign Language?

A nation’s identity is deeply rooted in its culture, its heritage, and most importantly, its national language. If we look at sovereign countries around the world that command global respect such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Japan, or China they share one defining trait:

“absolute pride in their native language. In these countries, hospitals, courts, corporate offices, and universities operate primarily in their own tongue.”

 Unfortunately, the landscape in Pakistan is starkly different. Here, English is no longer treated merely as a tool for communication; it has been elevated to a supreme status symbol a false benchmark for intelligence, class, and administrative capability.

The argument that Pakistan must prioritize English because it is a developing nation is structurally flawed. Countries like Iran and China have faced immense global and economic pressures, yet they never compromised on their native languages. They proved to the world that development is driven by innovation, intellect, and research not by mimicking a foreign tongue.

The Gatekeeping of Power:

The CSS Dilemma

Nowhere is the colonial mindset more damaging than in Pakistan’s bureaucratic pipeline:

 The Central Superior Services (CSS) competitive examinations. Year after year, the CSS results show dismal passing percentages often plunging below     2-3%. Statistics consistently reveal that the vast majority of candidates fail not due to a lack of analytical capability, historical knowledge, or intelligence, but because of the rigid English essay and précis requirements.

By making absolute fluency in elite, Victorian English the primary filter for governance, the state filters out brilliant, grassroots candidates from public universities who understand Pakistan’s actual ground realities. Instead, it favors a small, English-medium elite. If the CSS exams allowed candidates to rigorously express complex policy, law, and administrative strategies in Urdu, Pakistan would produce civil servants who are deeply connected to the public they are meant to serve.

Stifling Academic Research and Higher Education

This linguistic barrier also paralyzes Pakistan’s higher education system and academic research output. Local researchers are forced to conceptualize, conduct, and write their theses in English. When scholars are forced to think in one language but write in another, original thought is lost in translation.

Global educational data consistently shows that cognitive development and breakthrough research happen most fluidly when students learn and innovate in their first language. In European and East Asian universities, research is published natively, making academic knowledge instantly accessible to local industries and the public. In Pakistan, heavy academic research remains locked away in English journals, completely disconnected from the aam awam (common man) and local Small And Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that could actually benefit from it.

Restructuring the Three Tier Language Policy

To fix these systemic issues, Pakistan needs a radical shift in its national policy, restructuring its linguistic priorities into three clear tiers:

1. The First Priority: Urdu (The National Equalizer)

Urdu must be implemented as the primary language in state institutions, schools, hospitals, courts, and competitive exams. When civil service exams, public dealings, and higher education governance happen in Urdu, the common man is empowered, and the class divide is dismantled.

2. The Second Priority: Arabic (An Optional Spiritual Resource)

Given that Pakistan is a Muslim-majority state, Arabic holds profound spiritual and religious significance. Prioritizing it as a secondary language helps Muslims connect deeply with Islamic law, jurisprudence, and texts. However, recognizing Pakistan’s religious diversity, this must remain a valued choice rather than a forced imposition, fully respecting the constitutional rights of non-Muslim citizens.

3. The Third Priority: English (A Functional Global Tool)

English should undoubtedly be taught, but strictly as a functional international language and a technical tool for global trade, diplomacy, and international science. It should be treated as a valuable professional skill, not a measure of human worth or a replacement for our native identity.

Conclusion:

If we want the next generation of Pakistanis to break free from the shackles of an inferiority complex, we must stop equating English with superiority. True progress will only begin when we stop living in the shadow of colonial mindsets. It is time for our universities, CSS examiners, and national institutions to embrace Urdu wholeheartedly. If we do not respect our own language, the world will never respect our nation.