7th International Hindko Conference ends: Pledge renewed to promote all languages & cultures

PESHAWAR: The 7th International Hindko Conference concluded here on Sunday with a renewed pledge by the participants to work for promoting Hindko and other native languages along with the associated cultures.

The two-day moot was jointly organised by the literary and cultural organisation, Gandhara Hindko Board, and the Gandhara Hindko Academy.

The theme was “Achieving national unity through the promotion of Hindko and Indo-Aryan languages.”

Board’s Chairman Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi oversaw all the arrangements while Muhammad Ziauddin, Prof Dr Adnan Gul, Dr Salahuddin were the convener, chief organiser and moderator of the event, respectively.

Like the day one, a total of four sessions were held on day two of the moot.

The chief guest of the first session was a Gujri language researcher from Malakand, Malik Raza Khan. The presidium members were Turkish scholar from the Istanbul University, Prof Dr Halil Toqer, Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi, Prof Dr Hafizullah, Shafiq Ahmad, Prof Dr Adnan Gul, Khwaja Yawer Naseer, Dr Salahuddin and Ghayyur Sethi.

The chief guest praised the board and the academy for the work on the Indo-Aryan languages. He thanked both the bodies for paying attention to the Gujri language and other languages and cultures as well.

The second session’s chief guest was Chairman, Right to Public Services Commission, Mushtaq Jadoon. The presidium had a Brahvi language scholar, Dr Salahuddin Mengal, Mohtarma Munawwar Ahmad, Dr Muhammad Nawaz, Raja Noor Muhammad Nizami, Mian Karimullah Qureshi, and Ahmad Nadeem Awan.

Those who read out papers were Prof Dr Halil Toqer, Kohistani language writer from Swat, Inamullah, Muhammad Akhtar Naeem, Prof Aurangzeb Hur, a Seraiki language scholar, Saadia Kamal, Dr Muhammad Nawaz, Dr Rukhsana Qamar and Mian Karimullah Qureshi, the Pahari language expert.

The third session’s speakers were Iqbal Sikandar, M Nasir Afridi, Prof Hamidur Rehman, Dr Tajuddin Tajwer, Aziz Ejaz and Qudsia Qudsi.

The fourth session, the last one, was devoted to music. Ustad Saeed Paaris, Zulfiqar Bhatti, Ahmad Nadeem Awan, Junaid Siddiqui, Ameer Hamza and Zeeshan Ghaznavi sang folk songs and entrained the audience.

A resolution was adopted by the gathering in the end that demanded the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and federal governments to issue annual grants to the Gandhara Hindko Board and the academy as these organizations were working not only for the promotion of Hindko but also other Pakistani languages and cultures.

The second part of the resolution called for extending the Gandhara Hindko Academy project which was being run under the public-private partnership. Shields and certificates were distributed among the participants.

It may be mentioned here that the conference had got underway at the Gandhara Hindko Academy on Saturday. There were a total of four sessions on the first day.

These were hosted at the Saeen Ahmad Ali Hall, Dr Elahi Bakhsh Awan Library and Dr Zahoor Ahmad Awan Committee Room.

The first day speakers were Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi, Muhammad Ziauddin, Prof Muhammad Adil, Prof Dr Halil Toker of Turkey, Prof Dr Syed Amjad Hussain from the United States, Dr Nasim Ashraf from the United Arab Emirates, Mohtarma Munawwar Ahmad, Canada, Mian Karimullah Qureshi from Azad Jammu Kashmir, Mushtaq Jadoon, Faiz Muhammad Faizi, Prof Rashid Ahmad Khan, Mujahid bin Syed Gillani, Dr Muhammad Kamal, Shahida Asghar, Dr Anila Gul, Dr Muhammad Nawaz, Dr Siraj Ahmad, Dr Sobia Aslam, Dr Inayatullah Faizi and Umar Rauf.

Mushaira (poetry recital) and mystic poetry rendition were part of the conference on the inaugural day.