'Al Bakistan': Is Pakistan being Arabized?

A few days ago, a column discussed Pakistan being Arabized (See Ahlan Wasahlan, Al Bakistan!). The main evidence presented was the sighting of a large number of cars with the word 'Al Bakistan' on their license plates. Al Bakistan is the translation of probably 'The Pakistan'. The author, Sheharyar Rizwan, further informed that there were also cars with license plates showing 'Al Bunjab' that probably means 'The Punjab', a province of Pakistan. Mr. Rizwan showed concern that Pakistan was becoming an Arab colony.

A couple of years ago Pakistan was hit by a sign that it may have actually taken the first (or possibly 15th) step towards becoming an Arab colony, at least culturally. 

However, later in the article, Mr. Rizwan himself presented evidence which demonstrated 'Al Bakistan' has more to do with being cool and being different than with Arabization.

Source:  Ahlan Wasahlan, Al Bakistan!

Another evidence presented by Mr. Rizwan was religious affairs minister's statement that Arabic would be made compulsory in schools. After reading that statement (See Counter Terrorism: 'Arabic to be a compulsory subject'), it is clear that it is more a wish than an order of the minister. Education was a provincial subject even before the 18th Constitutional Amendment was passed and since that amendment, provinces have been pretty adamant about not allowing the federal government to infringe on their rights. So, there is little hope of Arabic being a compulsory subject in the near future. 

However, coming to the larger point, is making a foreign language compulsory in schools or allowing car license plates or some billboards in a foreign language, makes a country a colony of another country? If one accepts this argument, then Pakistan never became independent because English is not only compulsory in Pakistani schools but it is still the official language of the country. So, Pakistan is still a British colony according to this twisted logic.  

But why Mr. Rizwan is not afraid of the prevalence of English language in Pakistan (even himself writing in English) while worrying sick about few hundred license plates in Arabic? The issue here, I think, is the idea that more Arabic will mean more Islamization. Both the author of the article and the minister of religious affairs seem to believe in this notion. The minister argued that learning Arabic would mean people would understand Quran, [become more ethical/moral] and thus would reject terrorism and sectarianism. So, the minister presented Arabic teaching as a counter-terrorism measure. 

However, minister's argument is difficult to understand considering the fact that sectarianism is more prevalent in madrassa students than public/private schools students, despite the fact that madrassa students read more Quran and know more Arabic. Moreover, Osama bin Laden, all the 9/11 hijackers and many other terrorists were Arabic-speakers.  

Similarly, Mr. Rizwan's fear is also irrational as making Arabic compulsory is not easy. General Zia did that but not even public schools followed his orders/instructions. There is simply no appetite for learning Arabic now and even if it is, there are not enough Arabic teachers. Pakistani society has certainly become more conservative over the last few decades but that has less to do with Arabic (as Arabic is not still compulsory) than with other developments such as the rise of the middle class which is traditionally more conservative than the elites.  

I feel that using Al Bakistan on number plates and saying Ramadan (instead of Ramazan) is a hypocritical way of dealing with our insecurities that stem from the chasm between our beliefs and our behavior. Or it might simply be a way to look different/cool as Mr. Rizwan has suggested.

Learning Arabic is not a bad idea as it is an international language and may provide new opportunities to Pakistanis who work in Arab countries in large numbers.