PESHAWAR, Feb 27: Speakers at a seminar have said that concerted efforts should be made for promotion of Hindko, one of the main languages of Gandhara.

Dr Elahi Bakhsh Awan, an eminent linguist and scholar of Hindko, speaking as chief guest at the seminar held in connection with the International Mother Language Day, said: “Languages must be used to promote love and peace among human beings.”

According to a press release issued on Wednesday, Mr Bakhsh said: “Those who endear their language by preserving and promoting it without any bias never lag behind in development,” he said. He said unprecedented work had been done for the language from 1990 to 2000.

Sabeeh Ahmad, a gold medalist in Urdu literature, said Hindko was an ancient language of Gandhara spoken by a large number of people in Peshawar, Hazara, Kohat, Pothowar and Kashmir.