Punjabi Nationalism is Growing Rapidly in Pakistan
Date: May 9, 2025
The majority of Pakistani Punjabis are Muslim, but they find themselves in confrontation—based on Punjabi national identity—with Muslim Pathans, Muslim Baloch, and Muslim Hindustani Muhajirs due to political reasons. As a result, Punjabi nationalism is rapidly gaining momentum among Muslim Punjabis in Pakistan.
Muslim Punjabis in Pakistan primarily identify with their national identity as Punjabis rather than their religious identity as Muslims. In contrast, in India, Hindu Punjabis and Sikh Punjabis primarily identify with their religious identities as Hindus and Sikhs, and only secondarily with their national identity as Punjabis.
The primary language of every Punjabi in Punjab is Punjabi. If a person does not speak Punjabi as their first language, they can no longer be considered truly Punjabi.
Across the streets, cities, towns, villages, agricultural fields, factories, markets, shops, banks, post offices, courts, police stations, bus terminals, and railway stations of Punjab, people speak Punjabi.
Punjabis speak Urdu as a second language due to its status as the official national, provincial, and educational language of Pakistan, including Punjab.
In Punjab, uneducated, agriculture-related, and rural populations speak Punjabi, embrace Punjabi culture, and follow Punjabi traditions. However, a segment of the elite class, government servants, and urban residents lack respect, regard, and honour for their mother tongue, culture, and history.
Urdu-speaking migrants from Uttar Pradesh (commonly referred to as UP-ites), who occupied major cities of Punjab during British rule and after the creation of Pakistan, pose a significant challenge to Punjabi language, culture, and traditions;
1. By camouflaging themselves in Punjabi identity, these Urdu-speaking UP-ite Muhajirs are the primary conspirators in Punjab.
2. They mislead the Punjabi elite, government officials, and urban residents by devaluing the Punjabi language and promoting Urdu, using the propaganda that Urdu is the unifying language of the Pakistani people—rather than just the “language of Muslims.”
As a result, the fundamental unifying and identity-defining force for Punjab—the Punjabi language—is not recognized as an official or educational language in Punjab.
As Punjabi nationalism continues to rise rapidly in Pakistan, Punjabis are now actively struggling for the recognition of Punjabi as the official language of Punjab and Pakistan.
Leave a Reply