Ditch English for Urdu, Pakistan court orders government

Urdu language teacher Afsana Khokhar teaches her students at Mahudha Urdu School at Mahudha south east of Ahmedabad on October 11, 2012. - AFP/File / Sam Panthaky

ISLAMABAD, Sept 9, 2015 (AFP) - Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to implement Urdu as the country’s official language, replacing English in all communications 68 years after gaining independence from Great Britain.

The court order, issued Wednesday by Chief Justice Jawwad Khawaja, requires the federal government and the four provinces to make the switchover within three months in order to end the “societal divide” between the English-speaking elite and the non-English speaking majority.