PESHAWAR: Speakers at a function here on Tuesday called for saving mother tongues to forge greater national unity and a pluralistic society.

Different literary, cultural and civil society organisations conducted seminars, symposia and walks to mark Intentional Mother Language Day across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata.

The panelists suggested various ways and means to save mother tongues and urged writers and researchers to explore literary treasures of languages.

Around 31 events, three of them being in Peshawar one each at Peshawar Press Club, University of Peshawar and Iranian Culture Centre, in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata were organised to highlight the importance of mother tongues.

The Culture Journalists Forum and culture committee of Peshawar Press Club jointly organised a multilingual dialogue at the press club here on Tuesday.

Speakers stressed the need for national unity through linguistic harmony and promoting cultural diversity to counter extremism.

They said that language was a powerful tool and should be used to spread the message of mutual understanding and social cohesion to promote culture of tolerance among various ethnic groups.

Over 30 events held in KP, Fata to mark Intentional Mother Language Day

They urged government to include mother languages in school syllabus and also demanded due status for them for national unity and linguistic diversity.

The participants passed various resolutions unanimously regarding promotion, preservation and inclusion of mother tongues in the school syllabus.

They said that that efforts should also made to revive indigenous social, literary and cultural traditions towards a peaceful and tolerant society.

Experts said children should be taught the importance of mother tongues so that they could know their history, culture and social values.

“If educational institutions do not take responsibility of teaching our children who we are, what our linguistic and cultural roots are, how we can tell the world that we are a nation of rich cultural diversity,” they questioned.

Senior Seraiki poet Farooq Jan Babar Azad while chairing the event said that language was not only a source of communication but also way of life. He said that people had lived through their mother tongues as it had the power to get them communicated to other cultures.

Prof Nasir Ali Syed said that teaching in mother tongue to children was their basic human right. He said that most beautiful languages were being spoken in country’s northern areas away from facilities of main cities.

He said that there should libraries and funds for doing research on the folklore and history of those languages. “Mother tongue has music of its own. No other language could be its substitute, we should try to understand this fact,” he added.

Noted Pashto poet Laiqzada Laiq said that mother tongues could help them glued to their land and people. He said that people should keep intact their language for it had served as a treasure trove of their past glory and could help fire imagination of their children.

“Our children can easily relate themselves to the contents being taught to them in schools if it is in their mother tongues. It is not the responsibility of government alone to save our mother tongues but parents should also share this important task to encourage their children to speak, read, write and listen to in their mother tongues at least at homes,” said Mr Laiq.

Writers, poets and research scholars from different linguistic backgrounds attended the event. They said that linguistic harmony was need of the hour and all regional mother tongues should be given status of national languages.

They said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had greater linguistic diversity as around 30 different languages were being spoken there. They regretted that some of those languages were at the verge of extinction. They feared if those languages became extinct, a cultural diversity would be doomed forever.

Akbar Hoti, Imran Yousafzai, Dr Iqbal, Hidayatullah Gul, Syed Muddasir Shah, and Amjad Ali Khadim also spoke at the gathering.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2017