Language Research

Pakistan was established in 1947, as a homeland for Muslims in Southern Asia, and about 97% of Pakistanis are Muslim. The founders of Pakistan hoped that religion would provide a coherent focus for national identity, a focus that would supersede the country's considerable ethnic and linguistic diversity. Although this aspiration has not been completely fulfilled, Islam has been a pervasive presence within Pakistani society, and debate continues about its appropriate role in national civic life.

There is immense regional diversity in Pakistan. Pakhtuns, Baloch, Punjabis, and Sindhis are all Muslim, yet they have diverse cultural traditions and speak different languages. Punjabis, the largest of these ethnic groups, predominate in the central government and the military. Baloch, Pakhtuns, and Sindhis find the Punjabi preponderance at odds with their own aspirations for provincial autonomy. Ethnic mixing within each province further complicates social and political relations. Added to the indigenous human mosaic, there are more than 7 million Muhajirs (refugees or immigrants from India and their descendants who speak Urdu as their native language).

These linguistic differences are a divisive force. Some twenty languages are spoken, and although Urdu is the official language, it is not the native tongue of the majority of the population. Islam provides a tenuous unity in relation to such diversity.