KP govt urged to promote all languages

PESHAWAR: A number of functions were arranged in Peshawar and other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday to mark International Mother Language Day (February 21).

A literary and cultural organization, Gandhara Hindko Board arranged hosted a function which was titled “All languages are our languages”.An awareness-raising walk was arranged as well. The function was presided by noted scholar and literati Syed Khalid Masood Bukhari while Professor Saeed Ahmad was the chief guest on the occasion.

Ahmad Nadeem Awan moderated the proceedings of the function arranged in the old part of the walled city of Peshawar which was attended by people from different walks of life and a good number of children.

During the function, the children were holding placards inscribed with welcoming slogans in various languages spoken in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Syed Khalid Masood Bukhari, Professor Saeed Ahmad, Ahmad Nadeem Awan, Saeed Paras, Sikandar Hayat Sikandar, Dr Khadim Ibrahim, Waseem Shahid, Qudsia Qudsi, Awais Khayal and others said that our languages were our identity and the government must own and promote all languages of the province.

They said that the nations which worked for preservation and the promotion of their languages develop well in the world. For a safe and strong language, they added, it was our collective responsibility to play our due role in promoting our culture as well as languages.

The literati said that it was the need of the contemporary times to impart education to the children in their mother languages. Imparting education in native languages, they said, would make the children capable of competing with the fast-paced developing world.

The speakers praised the Gandhara Hindko Board and Gandhara Hindko Academy for their work to promote Hindko and other languages. They said that the board had raised awareness among the youths with regard to the promotion of the Hindko language which was why now the Hindko language was being used on various social media forums. Four resolutions were passed by the gathering in which the government was asked to ensure the use of modern technology in achieving the purpose of education in multi-languages and removing bottlenecks in its way.

The KP government was urged to sponsor all languages to put it on a strong footing. In the third resolution, the federal and KP governments were asked to provide enough financial support to the board which was working for the promotion of not only Hindko but other languages as well.

The fourth resolution said languages should be developed as the very right had been enshrined in the Constitution and the United Nations Charter. Later, a walk was staged to highlight the importance of all the languages of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The children led the walk by holding a banner that was inscribed with the slogan “Saari Zabana, Saadian Zabanaa (All languages are our languages). They were also carrying placards that bore the names of various KP languages.