Great discussion And good topic!
But I am really amazed to see people who are having objection on Urdu as our national language. 8% is just a statistical measurement it has nothing to do with understanding of a language. A national language is the one that acts as a means of communication between different provinces and states. If people in far flung areas or villages of Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa and Balochistan are unable to understand Urdu, so what? Urdu is spoken in schools, colleges, universities and mudrassas across the lenghts and breaths of Pakistan. Urdu continues to be the mother tongue of new generation in Urban Punjab. Parents like to speak Urdu rather than Punjabi to their children in cities of Punjab. Secondly, to the objection that Urdu is/was not a language of Muslims, I would like to comment that Urdu still haS much more knowledge of Islam, there are more writings and workings on Islam in URdu than English. Urdu has been the language used by radio Pakistan and PTV right from their inception and the language has been popular among people of the four provinces. Even today, Urdu is the most effective language for mass communication. Most of the TV Channels and News Dailies use Urdu. There are fewer TV Channels and dailies in regional languages than in Urdu that explains the popularity of Urdu among the masses.
And if we take into account that statical paraMETER ALONE, Then Punjabi ( the language of 48% Pakistanis) should be the national language, but at the cost of federation of Pakistan. Urdu represents all the four provinces of Pakistan. So, it enjoys the status of national language rightly.