The Open Air Theatre of Lok Virsa was packed last week as audiences flocked to join in the festivity surrounding the celebration of regional languages. Folk singers from various parts of the country performed in more than 15 regional languages.

There were songs from the Kailash group and regional languages including Punjabi, Sindhi, and Pushto, Balochi, Seraiki, Kashmiri, Hindko, Hazargi etc. as well. The biggest attraction of the night became "Maula Ali", performed by a local Hazara singer. The performances mostly focused on folklore as artistes showcased their talent with local instruments.

The multi-lingual musical evening, representing many dying languages of Pakistan, brought many local folk singers together at a national platform. The exercise was a part of Pakistan Mother Languages Literature Festival, organised by the Indus Cultural Forum (ICF) in collaboration with Lok Virsa, Strengthening Participatory Organization, with the support of USAID. The two-day festival coincided with the International Mother Language Day.

The event was the first-ever festival celebrating different languages and inviting common people to experience Pakistan’s linguistic and cultural diversity. Around 150 writers and artistes from over 20 Pakistani mother languages participated.

Earlier, students from National University of Science and Technology (NUST) and National University of Modern Languages (NUML) also gave a theatrical performance with the help of an Islamabad-based theatrical group known as Theatre Walay. The script of the cultural performance focused on being one nation with different colours. The performance’s high point came when the whole stage was covered in black and later the students presenting different regional cultures turned this black into a colourful canvas. The theme of the script was diversity and showing unity as one nation with respective regional colours.

The festival aimed to create social harmony and promote peace, tolerance and diversity. The festival also showcased a wide range of literary works in these languages; there were stalls promoting art and culture of these regions.

"Indus Cultural Forum (ICF) is a non-profit group of volunteers and we believe in promoting and celebrating Pakistan’s linguistic and cultural diversity. As its name shows, ICF believes in all cultures associated with Indus civilization, from Kashmir to Karachi," says Niaz Ahmed, the lead coordinator of the festival.

"According to UNESCO figures, in Pakistan people speak at least 70 languages in total -- out of them, 27 have been declared endangered and we need to make efforts to protect, promote literature and culture of these dialects," he further says.

Ahmed says this was the first such festival and their forum aims to make it an annual feature. "We urge the state to patronise these languages and cultures because there are no national level platforms encouraging and promoting this rich heritage that is still celebrated at the local levels."

The two-day festival aimed at mainstreaming the potential of literature and art in these languages which is as diverse as Pakistani society itself. These languages represent the centuries old traditions of intellectual journey through writings in a number of forms and genres -- ranging from strong poetic traditions to fiction and non-fiction prose. Literature from ancient to contemporary times offers a whole new perspective on Pakistani life and society.

The festivity included a mother languages mushaira, launching of books in mother languages, screening of documentaries, films and a multi-lingual book festival.

"The survival of a country actually lies in protecting and promoting its cultural diversity. We should come out of the one language myth by giving value to such events otherwise we will become aliens for each other," says Munawwar Hassan, an active participant in the festival.