Urdu replaced Sindhi as Karachi’s widely spoken language. The statistics on this has been shared by the Strategic Research Institute-SRI on Monday afternoon.
SRI took it to their official social media handle to share the details on it, adding that, “Urdu replaced Sindhi as Karachi’s widely spoken language; Sindhi was the mother tongue of 51% of Karachi in 1941.”
Including this, they have also shared the percentage of the commonly spoken mother tongues in Karachi, which reads as-
- Urdu: 42.3%
- Pashto: 15%
- Punjabi: 10.8%
- Sindhi: 10.7%
- Siraiki: 5%
- Hindko: 4.2%
- Balochi: 4%
- Others: 8%
It is to be noted that Urdu is the national language of Pakistan. Whereas, it is spoken by over 7% of Pakistanis as their first language. Although, it is widely spoken and understood as a second language by the majority of people of Pakistan.
Urdu was chosen as symbol of unity for the new state of Pakistan in 1947. It is written, spoken and used in all the provinces and territories across Pakistan, and along with the English as the main languages of instruction. Whereas, the people from different provinces and territories may speak different native languages in different dialects.
Notably, students in Pakistan are taught Urdu as the compulsory subjects up to higher secondary school in both English and Urdu medium school system.
About other languages
Punjabi– It is an Indo-Aryan language mainly spoken in the Punjab and adjoining provinces of Pakistan, written in the Shahmukhi script. It is most widely spoken language in Pakistan.
Pashto- It is an Iranian language spoken as the first language by more than 18.24% of Pakistanis, mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in norther Balochistan.
Sindhi- It is an Indo-Aryan language spoken as a first language by around 15% of Pakistanis, mainly in the Sindh province of Pakistan.
Saraiki- it is also an Indo-Aryan language of Lahnda group, mainly spoken in the central and southeastern Pakistan, mainly in the southern part of the province of Punjab.
Balochi- It is an Iranian language spoken as the first language by around 3% of Pakistanis, mainly in the Balochistan province.
Hindko- it is a term for a diverse group of Lahnda dialects spoken in several discontinuous areas in the northwestern Pakistan, mainly in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.