Great video

nice to see some people remember Punjab isn't just in India

PUNJABI! The official language of Bhangra. 

Hello all,


Thanks a ton for watching the video. A friend showed me this thread on Facebook, and I've registered just to clear up a few points. Evidently I wasn't as clear as I should've been!


Ashveer, the intended audience of my video was indeed quite muddled. My goal was to pass on a bit of information to the diasporic audience which may be uninformed about very basic facts, such as the amount of Punjabi speakers which exist in Pakistan, or the fact that Shahmukhi even exists. At the end, when arguing for Indians and Pakistanis to begin by learning one another's scripts, I was speaking to those who are already fully literate in one of them. Literacy in all senses of the word, that is; not sounding out characters, but full comprehension of text. Naturally, one who can hardly read their own script isn't going to derive much intellectual benefit from learning another! This doesn't really mesh with the earlier diasporic focus, which is why I think the message may have  been unclear. Encouraging diasporic Punjabis who only speak Hindi and Urdu to take up Punjabi is definitely not what I was trying to do in this video.


Jfried, thanks for the long response. I was essentially arguing that in terms of having a "right" to the Punjabi language, Pakistanis are no less entitled than Indians. This was in response to those who frequently argue that Punjabi is solely the language of the Sikhs, as it has been abandoned and left out to dry by Pakistani Muslims and Indian Hindus. My point is that it is the language of all Punjabis, regardless of the situation on the ground, and debating such a silly notion as ownership over a language is only going to harm Punjabi's prospects.


As for Punjabi being in a disadvantaged position in Pakistan, this is most definitely true. As I discuss in the video, it was never the language of administration. I chose not to focus on Punjabi's further decline amongst the Pakistani middle class and instead chose to discuss what Ayres writes about in her article: the growth of a movement around Punjabiyat, and a level of cross-border communication between Punjabi writers and intellectuals never before seen in post-independence history. Punjabi faces real challenges in Pakistan, but this is a ray of hope, and proof that Punjabi has not been abandoned by Pakistani intellectuals. These figures may be a minority, but they're a symbol of hope, and are further proof that Pakistanis need to be accepted as forming an integral part of the language's demographics and encouraged to join in on its promotion and development.


I faced the challenge of making this video both as short and as accessible as possible, as my goal was to quickly inform and make an emotional impact. Both a quick lecture and a speech, you could say, with a wide audience. I just hope that those who see this video learn a little bit about the language and stop assuming the worst about Punjabi in Pakistan. All is not lost, but it will be if the Pakistanis are written off!

*bump* for those that didn't get a chance to see this excellent video & share it video with others.
 
Great discussion going on here guys.
 
~ Basim

Hello all,


Thanks a ton for watching the video. A friend showed me this thread on Facebook, and I've registered just to clear up a few points. Evidently I wasn't as clear as I should've been!


Ashveer, the intended audience of my video was indeed quite muddled. My goal was to pass on a bit of information to the diasporic audience which may be uninformed about very basic facts, such as the amount of Punjabi speakers which exist in Pakistan, or the fact that Shahmukhi even exists. At the end, when arguing for Indians and Pakistanis to begin by learning one another's scripts, I was speaking to those who are already fully literate in one of them. Literacy in all senses of the word, that is; not sounding out characters, but full comprehension of text. Naturally, one who can hardly read their own script isn't going to derive much intellectual benefit from learning another! This doesn't really mesh with the earlier diasporic focus, which is why I think the message may have  been unclear. Encouraging diasporic Punjabis who only speak Hindi and Urdu to take up Punjabi is definitely not what I was trying to do in this video.


Jfried, thanks for the long response. I was essentially arguing that in terms of having a "right" to the Punjabi language, Pakistanis are no less entitled than Indians. This was in response to those who frequently argue that Punjabi is solely the language of the Sikhs, as it has been abandoned and left out to dry by Pakistani Muslims and Indian Hindus. My point is that it is the language of all Punjabis, regardless of the situation on the ground, and debating such a silly notion as ownership over a language is only going to harm Punjabi's prospects.


As for Punjabi being in a disadvantaged position in Pakistan, this is most definitely true. As I discuss in the video, it was never the language of administration. I chose not to focus on Punjabi's further decline amongst the Pakistani middle class and instead chose to discuss what Ayres writes about in her article: the growth of a movement around Punjabiyat, and a level of cross-border communication between Punjabi writers and intellectuals never before seen in post-independence history. Punjabi faces real challenges in Pakistan, but this is a ray of hope, and proof that Punjabi has not been abandoned by Pakistani intellectuals. These figures may be a minority, but they're a symbol of hope, and are further proof that Pakistanis need to be accepted as forming an integral part of the language's demographics and encouraged to join in on its promotion and development.


I faced the challenge of making this video both as short and as accessible as possible, as my goal was to quickly inform and make an emotional impact. Both a quick lecture and a speech, you could say, with a wide audience. I just hope that those who see this video learn a little bit about the language and stop assuming the worst about Punjabi in Pakistan. All is not lost, but it will be if the Pakistanis are written off!

Stephen, I think the main thing here is that we were probably focusing on different parts of Ayres' body of work (she's been a bit less prolific at US DoS, but she had a LONG dissertation and probably has enough material in there for another two or three books). I do recall her work on Punjabiyat, and it is noteworthy to see the resurgence of a pro-Punjabi intellectual movement in the Pakistani Punjab. My point was that she didn't seem entirely convinced that it would spawn much in the way of Punjabi recognition (of sorts) among the middle classes. It'll be interesting to see if this movement has the desired effect, though.