Siraiki Language

Siraiki language, Siraiki also spelled Saraiki or Seraiki, Indo-Aryan language spoken in Pakistan. The Siraiki-speaking region spreads across the southwestern districts of Punjab province, extending into adjacent regions of the neighbouring provinces of Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. There were probably at least 20 million speakers in the early 21st century, but it is hardly possible to establish accurate numbers, given official reluctance to compile and publish the relevant statistics. This may be attributed to the sensitivity of language issues in Pakistan, notably including the growing pressure for official recognition of Siraiki as a language distinct from Punjabi, and the consequent demand for the separation of the main Siraiki-speaking region from Punjab province. These claims are in turn often strongly opposed by those who regard Siraiki as no more than a dialect of Punjabi, thus possessing no right to fuller political recognition.