One-month awareness campaign launched to win national language status for Sindhi

HYDERABAD: The inaugural ceremony of an awareness campaign to get the Sindhi language recognised as national language was organized by the Sindhi Language Authority on Friday The campaign will run from February 1 to February 28. Speaking at the event, a senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and former minister for culture Sassui Palijo stated that while the Pakistan Resolution 1940 guarantees provincial autonomy and the rights of all provinces, unfortunately, efforts are still being made to secure the national recognition and survival of the Sindhi language

She emphasized that some people believe that in this era of modern technology, the survival of a language is less important, but this is not the case.

She said that Sindhi is a thousands-of-years-old indigenous language, and we will continue to raise our voice for its preservation on every platform.

Palejo recalled that when she was a senator, she had presented a bill to grant Sindhi the status of a national language, but regrettably, a federal party did not support it.

The PPP has always strived to grant national language status to Sindhi and other provincial languages.

She mentioned that after 2010, a high-level committee was formed at the government level, led by the Sindhi Language Authority, to initiate efforts not only for the preservation of Sindhi but also for other languages.

She praised the Sindhi Language Authority for its work on developing software and computer applications for the Sindhi language.

Renowned Sindhi writer Noorulhuda Shah, addressing the ceremony, stated that the mother tongue is the language of the motherland, the language of one’s soil. Sindhi is a literary and historical language, and it deserves to be recognized as a national language.

Speaking at the event, Chairman Sindhi Language Authority Ishaq Samejo said that we do not consider any language inferior or superior. All languages of Pakistan are respectable. He quoted the famous Sindhi writer Ali Baba, who said, “A mother can never be inferior.”

He emphasized that this movement is not only for granting national language status to Sindhi but also for recognizing all languages of Pakistan as national languages.

He called on all nationalities in the country to unite in support of this demand. Punjabi, Seraiki, and other languages should also be given their due recognition.

He added that the purpose of this awareness campaign is to encourage people to speak and write in Sindhi. He noted that it is often observed that wedding cards, visiting cards, shop signboards, marriage certificates, birth and death certificates, and many other documents are increasingly being written in English. Therefore, we should prioritize our own language over foreign languages.

He also stressed the need to ensure that private schools comply with the law requiring the teaching of Sindhi as a subject.