ISLAMABAD: The Department of Linguistics at the Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) Islamabad has urged the military to name their future counter-terror operation in Seraiki for optimum impact.
Senior linguists at QAU were reacting to the launch of Operation Radd-e-Fasaad, which follows a line of military operation with Arabic names.
“We can understand where the Arabic or Arabic sounding names are coming from,” says one of the senior linguists. “But unfortunately those who we believe are the target of these operations might not see it that way. And we must always keep the target audience in mind, which coming up with headlines or captions, or in this case, the name of the counter-terror operation.”
The QAU Linguistics Department believes if future operations are titled in Seraiki they might have the desired impact. And while they say Punjabi could work, it’s actually Seraiki that would hit the target demographic.
“Yes, of course, Punjabi would be better than what we’ve got right now,” said the Dean of the Department. “But Seraiki strikes home. It tells the target: we know you, we want you. Arabic, unfortunately, doesn’t say much to the recipient or the deliverer.”
