Govt urged to establish Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Languages Authority

International day marked 

PESHAWAR: The speakers at a special function arranged by the Gandhara Hindko Board in the Gandhara Hindko Academy on Tuesday called for establishing Khyber Pakhtun-khwa Languages Authority to work for the promotion of all native languages.

The progarmme was organised at the Dr Zahoor Ahmad Awan Hall of the academy to mark the International Mother Language Day. The day is celebrated onFebruary 21.

Gandhara Hindko Academy Director Dr Zafar Iqbal presided over the function. The chief guest was Faridullah Qureshi. A noted cultural activist and Vice-Chairman of the Gandhara Hindko Board, Dr Salahuddin, moderated the proceedings.

Among the participants were Dr Waqar Ali Shah, Nadia Hussain, Samina Advocate, Robina Advocate, HinaTahir, Waseem Shahid, Sikandar Hayat and others.

The speakers said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was blessed with several languages which needed to be preserved and promoted without any discrimination. They said collective efforts were required for the purpose.

Dr Salahuddin said the board had been celebrating the International Mother Language Day for the last 24 years.

"This day provides us an opportunity to mull over steps for the promotion of our respective languages. The board seeks promotion of not only Hindko but also other Khyber Pakhtunkhwa languages," said the cultural activist.

The participants suggested a number of steps for the promotion of the native languages. They said the provincial government should take practical steps for setting up Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Languages Authority to work for preservation and promotion of all native languages. They recalled that a plan had been evolved for such a body in the past but was never materialised.

The KP government was asked to launch a radio station which should give air time to all indigenous languages. The speakers proposed that the state-run PTV National Channel transmission should be expanded to accommodate more native languages.

They suggested establishment of a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cultural Academy to work for the promotion of all native cultures. The speakers wanted the Information Department to bring out multilingual quarterly publications which should serve as a tool to spread information and promote regional languages.

They suggested to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture Department to publish the works of sufi poets of different languages as sufi poetry is based on love and peace. The speakers sought chairs for various languages at the public and private universities to facilitate research on these languages and the associated cultures. As alternative, it was suggested that Linguistics Department could be considered to encourage students to carry out research on various languages.

The participants hailed the recent Mother Languages Conference in Islamabad and exhorted the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to follow suit. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture Department was urged to award the best works in all native languages to encourage writers. The department was asked to prepare short documentaries in English and Urdu languages to highlight the cultural diversity of the province.