PESHAWAR, Aug 29: The Gandhara Hindko Board, a literary-cum-cultural organization, has decided to hold a two-day Hindko Conference here on Nov 19. This was announced at a meeting of the executive committee of the GHB held at the central office of the board. GHB chairman Dr Zahoor Ahmad Awan presided the meeting.

The executive committee unanimously elected Dr Awan as patron-in-chief of the conference, Haji Mohammad Haleem Jan as chief organizer and Mohammad Ziauddin as convener for the conference.

The meeting also constituted seven committees — cultural, publicity, media, publishing, transport, food and security.

Mr Awan hoped that the conference would prove to be a milestone in the efforts being made for the preservation and promotion of Hindko language and culture. He said the moot would provide an opportunity to the board to share with delegates from foreign countries, mostly comprising the expatriate Hindkowans, the work it had been doing since 1993 for the language.

The meeting was told that the board was a literary-cum-cultural body that has to its credit 15 books on different genres of the Hindko literature, including a voluminous Hindko dictionary.

The board launched a series of literary sittings in 1997 under the name of Gandhara Hindko Adabi Akath to critically analyse the Hindko literature being produced under different forms; explore new writers, poets and bring to the fore the work of senior literati. The sittings, held regularly on every Tuesday vening at different venues, introduced young writers and poets whose work got polished by the critical evaluation from the senior writers.

The board has already launched a Hindko literary magazine Hindkowan in the year 2004 for wider dissemination of the work being done for the language and culture. The journal has produced and promoted a new breed of writers, apart from digging out and brining in fine print the literary masterpieces by the classic Hindko poets.

The work on the versified Hindko translation of the Holy Quran is in final shape. The organization has also produced a Hindko audio cassette containing 10 folk songs.

The board has revived the tradition of Hindko Mushairas (poetic sittings) which used to be a common feature of the walled city in the early 20th century.

With current membership standing at 462, the board has an outreach to all the areas where Hindko language is spoken, which include Peshawar, Hazara division, Kohat, Nowshera (NWFP), Potohar (Northern Punjab) and Azad Kashmir.