Ottawa
The High Commission for Pakistan in Canada has requested the Canadian authorities to consider inclusion of Urdu language in the list of individual national languages and Punjabi Shahmukhi and Punjabi Gurmukhi as two separate entries for mother tongue for the Canadian Census 2021.
In a letter addressed to Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, the High Commission for Pakistan said a large number of notable Pakistani origin Canadians had approached the Pakistan High Commission to request the Canadian authorities for inclusion of Urdu language in the list of individual languages of Canadian Census-2021 for the recognition and celebration of the rich cultural heritage of Pakistani origin Canadians.
The letter noted that Urdu was the national language of Pakistan and had been serving as a robust medium of connectivity and cohesion in a culturally diverse national landscape of Pakistan.
In the letter, the High Commission for Pakistan further requested the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada to consider for future reference/census, entries of Punjabi Shahmukhi and Punjabi Gurmukhi as separate mother tongues because both languages followed two entirely different scripts as was the case with Urdu and Hindi.
The Canadian Census does not record this distinction affecting resources which are currently allocated for the promotion of media and content only in Punjabi Gurmukhi used in the Indian Punjab, the letter concluded.—PR
