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Language blues: Persian, Arabic and Bengali
Karachi, Sep 3: Farhan Ahmed is pursuing a Master's degree in Persian at Karachi
University (KU). He explained that it was his love for the language that made
him opt for this discipline. After getting his degree, he plans to do a PhD and
later teach the language.
Another student from Farhan's class, Saleha
Nazish, shares the same enthusiasm for the language. "Persian is such a sweet
language that it gives me pleasure to speak and read it. Urdu has an abundance
of Persian words and I feel that if someone wants to be proficient in the
language they must have a working knowledge of Persian. The same can be said
about French, which is equally important for students of English Literature,"
the student said passionately.
Other students share similar sentiments
and added that although they may not be able to make a lot of money through
their chosen discipline, they at least have the satisfaction of studying a
subject of their choice. Regardless of this, however, there are a few students
who are studying the language simply because it is the only department they were
able to get into, having secured second division in their intermediate
examinations. "We had no choice but to come here. In our second year of the
Bachelor of Studies (BS) programme, however, we will switch over to subsidiary
subjects," said one student.
Persian was once the language of the
courts. It was favoured for education and used by the elite of the Mughal Empire
until Lord Macaulay replaced it with English in the mid-19th century. Since
then, it lost its importance and after Independence, Pakistan was unable to do
justice to the language.
Dr Rehana Afsar, the Chairperson of the
Department of Persian, obtained her Master's degree from KU and obtained her
MPhil and PhD degrees from Tehran University. She is able to speak the language
like a native speaker. "Persian is the love of my life. I was captivated by the
charm of the language and still am today," she said. In reply to a query about
student enrollment, she explained that "Currently, 40 students are enrolled in
the first-year BS class and 30 students are in the second year. Most students
tend to obtain their Bachelor's degree and leave the department for greener
pastures. There are five students in the third year, however, and as expected,
they will join other departments. There are only two pupils in the final year of
Master's."
"Whether we accept it or not, students all over tend to look
for job-oriented subjects. It is the same with our department. Students seek
admission with diverse ideas in their minds. Not all come here for the love of
the language," Dr Afsar responded with regard to the high number of students
dropping out of the programme. She explained that 15 years ago, Persian was
taught in 22 colleges but now there are only six colleges that teach the
language, most of which are for women. The Khana-e- Farhang (Iranian Cultural
Centre) helps out by contributing books and journals but the Iranian government
usually does not provide much support.
The University of Karachi also has
a Department of Bengali where the total number of students is 12 - two of them
are in the Master's year, six in the first year, two in their second year and
two in third year. Muhammad Abu Talib Khan is the head of the department and
according to him, most students in this department are either Bengali or have
come from former East Pakistan (commonly called Biharis). When asked about the
large gap between the number of students and the number of Bengalis actually
living in Karachi, he said that "they are mostly poor, do menial jobs like
fishing or work at homes. They cannot afford the luxury of a university
education." In response to the question about job prospects, he explained that
"The Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Karachi employs some, while others
struggle to find work."
Arabic at KU, however, is in a comparatively
better state as the department has a total of 170 students that include 15 PhD
and 35 Master's students. Dr Abdush Shaheed Nomani, the chairman of the
department, is optimistic about the future of Arabic in Pakistan. "The number of
students joining our department has increased over the years. There are
different reasons for this interest. The general feeling is that Arabic, being
the language of the Holy Quran, should be learned in order to read and
understand the Holy Book. Moreover, the numerous job opportunities in the Middle
Eastern countries encourage people to learn the language in order to gain an
edge while applying for jobs there," he said.
The students of Arabic
have fairly good opportunities as they get jobs in schools as teachers and in
consulates as interpreters. The news
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