PNCA observes Mother Language Literature Festival

Islamabad: Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) in collaboration with Indus Cultural Forum continued with the legacy of celebrating linguistic and cultural diversity by arranging 6th Pakistan Mother Languages Literature Festival on Sunday at PNCA.

Speaking on the occasion, DG PNCA Dr. Fouzia Saeed said that Pakistan had a rich cultural tradition and colors of linguistic diversity should be celebrated in all forms.

She said that this festival offered a platform for celebrating all 70 plus languages of Pakistan and encouraged language communities to take action for saving these languages from extinction.

She further added that the festival provided a platform to intellectuals, writers and thinkers representing different languages to come together and present their work on various genres of art, literature, culture and education in mother languages of Pakistan.

Indus Cultural Forum chairperson Munawar Hassan said that this year’s festival was reduced to one day due to Covid-19. He said, “We will continue the festival online after this one day.” He said that the event was meant to pay tributes to living legends who had dedicated their lives to the promotion and protection of Pakistan’s mother languages. Secretary Culture Sindh Akbar Laghari said that Sindh government cooperated with other provinces and federal institutions to promote cultural interaction. He said that this festival aimed to promote Pakistan’s linguistic and cultural diversity by fostering critical thinking and learning through effective use of creative expression in mother languages. Country Director of Friedrich Nauman Foundation Birgit Lamm in her remarks said that she was thrilled by the enthusiasm which Pakistani people showed for their languages and cultural identity. She said Pakistan was the only federal country which had only one national language where as in the federal spirit all major languages should be declared National languages. 11 legends from different languages were awarded lifetime achievement awards for their lifelong services for promoting languages and literature of Pakistan. The legends were paid tributes by scholars and researchers for their legendary services.

These included prominent researcher Dr Tariq Rahman, Ahmed Saleem (Punjabi) Dr Fahmida Husain (Sindhi), Hafeez Khan (Seraiki), Aftab Iqbal Shamim (Urdu), Sadullah Jaan Barq (Pushto), Sultan Sukoon (Hindko), Ishaq Soz (Brahui), Munir Badini (Balochi), Hussain Yousifabadi (Balti), Rana Fazal Hussain (Gojri).

Nusrat Zehra presented an overview of creative writings written in the context of Covid-19, whereas Khalil Raza talked about scientific response to Covid-19.