MIGRATION AND ITS IMPACTS ON DEMOLISHING LINGUAL HERITAGE: AN INDEPTH CASE STUDY OF MOHAJIR KASHMIRI FAMILIES IN PAKISTAN Dr. Abid Ghafoor Chaudhry 1 , Aftab Ahmed 2 , Shaheer Ellahi Khan 3 1 Department of Sociology and Anthropology, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, 2 Pakistan Association of Anthropology (PAA) Islamabad, Pakistan, 3 Free-Lance Consultant Islamabad, Pakistan 1 abidgc@gmail.com, 2 huda.aftab@gmail.com, 3 shaheer_ellahi@hotmail.com ABSTRACT Socialization in post migration phase has a key role in shaping the behavior of the people towards a new place, culture, its market and practices. The socialization of children of migrant families creates potential impact(s) on the diminishing lingual heritage by taking active part in the schooling and interacting with other members of the society. The ‘Mohajirs’ (migrants) from rural setting come across the multiplicity which obviously blows on their socialization and especially the new generations are more exposed to such radical change which creates a chain process in the diminishment of lingual heritage. They, most often, lose their mother tongue and get socialized in other languages hence a serious gap is evident between the indigenous knowledge carried with native language and acceptance for the diversity, National and International language(s). This study explores the latent hazards faced by the migrants from rural setting and their impact(s) on the diminishing language. The present study has been conducted through a mix of qualitative and quantitative techniques including in-depth questionnaires on sample of 95 out-migrant families living in Rawalpindi and Islamabad selected using convenient sampling technique. Key words: Migration, Mother language, Language shift, Threatened language INTRODUCTION Migration is the “movement across the boundary of an areal unit” (Boyle et al. 1998), whereas a move within an areal unit is, simply, a “local move” (Lewis 1982a). Migration also has extensivecost for the social fabric of the three communities affected: the society of origin, the society of destination, and the migrants themselves (Mangalam (1968).According to Zaheer (1994) and Miroslav (2008)language is an essential part of any culture which helps to preserve the identity and integrity of nations.It is a leading feature in determining the bases of nationalism or ethnicity, as it represents a nation’s identity and preserves its heritage. Language is also known to be the dynamic force behind the unity of the people and makes them different from other nations. Language is by no means imposed but is adopted and once adopted a language is difficult to eliminate from the society until the society decides to change or adopt something new due to internal or external factors. Immediately after the independence in 1947, the question about the State language of Pakistan was raised. In the early years the imposition of Urdu as the national language of Pakistan created disastrous problems for the country. Masses of East Pakistanput forward a strong opposition when the central government of Pakistan started the unilateral use of Urdu in money order forms, postal stamps, currencies, coins, railway tickets and official letterheads even without formally adopting Urdu as state language of Pakistan.