PESHAWAR: The Gandhara Hindko Board and Gandhara Hindko Academy jointly organized the 9th two-day KP Languages and Cultures Conference here at the Cultural Hall, which was concluded on Sunday.
The moot was arranged in connection with the International Mother Language Day which is marked all over the world on February 21. This year theme for the day is “Fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society.”
Muhammad Ziauddin, a research scholar of the Hindko language and general secretary of the Gandhara Hindko Board, was the convener of the conference while deputy convener was Inam Torwal who is known for research on the Torwali language.
Prof Dr Adnan Gul, Senior Vice-Chairman of the board, oversaw all the arrangements. Ahmad Nadeem Awan and Ms Tahira Riffat moderated the sessions which were arranged on the first day of the conference.
Researchers and writers from different languages spoken in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other parts of the country turned up at the vent. They read out papers to highlight the importance of respective languages and cultures associated with them.
Gandhara Hindko Board Chairman Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi presided over the first session. A Kohistani language writer, Razwal Kohistani, was the chief guest while Prof Sameena Iffat was the guest of honour.
Terming languages as a source of identity and an important part of the cultural heritage, the speakers at a conference called for efforts to protect and promote them without any discrimination.
The second session was presided over by Rozi Khan Burki. Malik Raza Khan Gujjar was the chief guest. Ms Sabira Shakir was the guest of honour.
The speakers included Shehzada Tanvirul Mulk, Mula Adeena Shah, Dr Muhammad Adil, Abdul Khaliq Hamdard, Dr Basmina Siraj, Professor Aurangzeb Hussam Hur, Dr Khalid Khan Khattak, Rozi Khan Burki, Dr Muhammad Kamal Khan, Muhammad Naeem Akhtar, Dr Hakim Ali Bareero, Dr Ziaur Rehman Baloch, Dr Wajid Tabassum and others.
Board Chairman Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi said all languages and the cultures of the motherland have their own importance and these must be preserved and promoted to strengthen national unity and cohesion. He said through such conferences the board provided a platform for the speakers of different languages to come closer and get familiar with various languages and cultures.
“The Gandhara Hindko Board and the academy that we run in partnership with the KP government are committed to the promotion of all languages. This conference, which is the 9th in the series, clearly shows our principle of respect for all languages and cultures,” said Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi who has served as chief secretary of KP and Sindh during his career in the civil service.
The board General Secretary Muhammad Ziauddin said most of the KP languages belong to the Indo-Aryan group of languages. “We should use them to strengthen the linguistic and cultural bonds,” he added. Ziauddin said the Hindko board was launched in 1993 and the academy in 2015. “We have published 400 books in different languages, brought out 17 periodicals, arranged seven international and nine KP level literary conferences so far,” said the researcher while mentioning the achievements of the literary bodies.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021