ISLAMABAD: The second two-day Pakistan Mother Languages Literature Festival concluded on Sunday with speeches and a musical evening.

The evening began with Sindhi music including Mast o mast qalandar presented by Akhter Daragai, followed by Nabeeha Isfahani’s performances of Urdu songs including Aye jazba-i-dil and Laagi re tu se laagi.

Many audience members could not resist dancing when Shakir Essa Khelvi started singing Ay theva mundri de theva. He was followed by famous singer Sanam Marvi, who presented three Sindhi folk songs and received huge applause.

Indus Cultural Forum representative Munawar Hassan spoke about the outcomes of the festival and called for the recognition and promotion of all national languages.

He said linguistic diversity is important for the future of the country and that all the languages will be given equal status at the national level. He said speakers who participated in the festival had asked the government to initiate debate on the language issue and to pass laws regarding languages.

Renowned linguist and associate professor at the Summer Institute of Languages Dr Joan Bart in his keynote speech titled ‘Maybe We Can’ said some of the languages which were facing extinction had now been revived due to a campaign for their revival.

“Some 7,100 languages exist in the world and some say 50pc of these will die by the end of the century and others say 90pc will have died by them. Mother languages are important because they are linked to culture, traditions, art, wisdom and information,” he said.

Mother languages are associated with identity and losing identity is a tragedy, he added.

Sindh Minister for Culture Syed Sardar Ali Shah announced that a sufi music festival will be held in Islamabad and that the provincial government will be providing support for it.

Pakistan Academy of Letters Chairman Dr Qasim Bughio called the festival a Zarb-i-Qalam, Zarb-i-Culture and Zarb-i-Knowledge, which he said was a perfect counter terrorism strategy. “Festivals like these give us a chance to sit, dance and sing together and is the best way to tell extremists we are united,” he said.

Lok Virsa Executive Director Dr Fouzia Saeed urged the government to give mother languages the status of national languages and urged concerned institutions to take measures for the promotion of various languages.

The festival was hosted by Lok Virsa, Strengthening Participatory Organisation, Foundation Open Society Institute and the Sindh Department of Culture, Tourism and Heritage.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2017