PESHAWAR: The Gandhara Hindko Academy has published the 10th issue of its Hindko literary and cultural journal dedicated to the Hazara division.
“Sargi Da Tara” is one of the 10 regular publications the academy, run by the Gandhara Hindko Board, brings out to promote the Hindko language and culture. This journal covers the literary and cultural landscape of the Hazara division, where Hindko is spoken as the first language in the districts of Haripur, Abbottabad, and Mansehra,” said Muhammad Ziauddin, head of the academy’s executive committee and General Secretary of the board, while unveiling the latest issue.
He said the board has been working since 1993 for the preservation and promotion of Hindko, which, according to official statistics, is the second main language in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the sixth most widely spoken language in the country.
“The Gandhara Hindko Academy was established in Peshawar in April 2015 under a public-private partnership to preserve and promote Hindko language and culture,” said the research scholar.
“But later, we expanded our efforts to include other Pakistani languages, especially those lacking official support,” he said, and added that the academy had published works in 11 Pakistani languages so far.
Ziauddin listed the Hindko journals published by the academy as Hindko Adab, Gandhara, Hindkowan, Sarkhail, The Gandhara Voice, Fatima, Taarey, Mother, Sargi Da Tara, and Kotal Rang.
He said that while Sargi Da Tara was dedicated to Hazara, Kotal Rang focused on the Kohat district.
“In addition to these, the academy supports magazines in Saraiki, Kohistani, and Khowar, the languages which lack official patronage but need to be preserved and promoted. These include Gomal Rang (Saraiki), Watan (Kohistani), and Khowar Nama (Khowar),” Ziauddin added.
Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi serves as the Patron-in-Chief of Sargi Da Tara. Muhammad Akhtar Naeem is the Editor, Muhammad Ziauddin is the Managing Editor, while Raza Khan Tanoli is Deputy Editor and Dr Aamir Sohail is Assistant Editor.
The latest issue features literary contributions from Asif Saqib, Seed Ashar, Ajmal Nazeer, Raza Khan Tonoli, Prof Basheer Ahmad Soz, Nazeer Hussain Shah Kasailvi, Dr. Aamir Sohail, Dr Raheela Khursheed, Dr Farzana Iqbal, Raja Noor Muhammad Nizami, Shakeel Awan, Qazi Nasir Bakhtiar, Dr Zia Rasheed, Sher Afzal Gujjar, Syed Mehtab Shah, Shujjat Ali Shah, Tajammal Shah, Mohsin Mahboob, Sajida Tabassum, Gulnaz Shah, and Iqbal Kalorvi.
The editorial pays rich tribute to the writers of the Hazara division who have supported the Gandhara Hindko Board and the Academy in promoting Hindko language and culture in Haripur, Abbottabad, and Mansehra.
Special mention has been made of Haider Zaman Haider, Yehya Khalid, Sufi Abdur Rasheed, Abdul Ghafoor Malik, Sultan Sakoon, and Muhammad Akhtar Naeem for their literary contributions.
The editorial also praises Muhammad Akhtar Naeem, a veteran Mansehra-based writer in his early 70s, for organizing literary and cultural gatherings in Hazara under the banner of the Mansehra chapter of the board. The pictorial section of the latest issue of the journal highlights the literary and cultural activities carried out in the Hazara division.