Effective efforts stressed to promote Punjabi

LAHORE : The two-day International Punjabi conference on ‘Punjabi: as an Academic and Functional Language’ organised by Punjab University Institute of Punjabi & Cultural Studies in collaboration with Punjab Institute of Languages, Art & Culture Lahore began here on Tuesday.

PU VC Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood, Director PU Institute of Punjabi and Cultural Studies Prof Dr Nabila Rehman, Dr Jagmohan Sanga, Sardar Ajaib Singh Chhatha, former Chairman PHEC Prof Dr Nizamuddin, faculty members, students, other Punjabi experts from Canada, America, England and Turkiye were present.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Chairman Prof Dr Shahid Munir said that for the promotion of Punjabi language, efforts should be made without waiting for government patronage.

Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood said that it became easy to understand any difficult matter in mother language and we should not feel inferior for speaking Punjabi language. He said that English was not spoken in any official meeting in China and Iran and developed nations promoted their language to show that were are not victims of any mental slavery. Dr Jagmohan Singh said that Punjabis were respected in Canada. He said that Punjabis were members of the parliament in Canada and held important government positions. Dr Nabila Rehman said that Punjab had been a land of skills and talent for centuries. She said that it was unfortunate that even though the soil of Punjab was fertile, agricultural commodities worth billions of dollars were being imported.

Mudassir Iqbal Butt said that Punjabi language should be made the language of education. He said that local languages were being taught in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that Punjabi should be made compulsory from first to 5th grade. Sardar Ajaib Singh Chattha said that the aim of teaching moral values should be to create the best human beings. Dr Nizamuddin said that Turkish, Chinese, Korean and Japanese taught in their own languages.