LAHORE: The Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture (Pilac) launched the Punjabi Dictionary (Punjabi into Punjabi) at Governor House on Tuesday. Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar was the chief guest on the occasion.
The dictionary has been compiled and published by Pilac. The ceremony was attended by noted scholars, artists, singers, journalists and activists of Punjabi language.
In his address, Mr Sarwar said everyone felt at home while speaking one’s mother tongue which was associated with one’s identity and culture. He congratulated Pilac for compiling and printing such a big dictionary consisting of seven volumes. He said as the speakers had declared the dictionary the biggest in the sub-continent, it was the biggest Punjabi dictionary of the world as the biggest number of Punjabi speakers was found in the sub-continent. He also agreed with the proposal floated in the event that Punjab should also celebrate ‘Punjab Day’ on some specified date to highlight its customs, traditions, games, cuisine and culture.
Punjab Minister for Information & Culture Samsam Bukhari appreciated the publication of the dictionary, saying the Punjab government would continue its support to launch such literary projects aimed at promoting mother language, art and culture of Punjab.
Sohail Warraich termed the publication of the Punjabi dictionary a milestone in the history of Punjabi language. He emphasised the importance of research and referencing for the development of the language and critical analysis for which a dictionary was always needed.
Dr Sughra Sadaf expressed special thanks to the government which supported the institute for the dictionary project.
Dr Shahid Kashmiri, the supervisor of dictionary project, described how they completed the project in the stipulated time of two years. He appreciated the efforts of Pilac administration and researchers who made it possible to complete the project in a short time.
Dr Ajmal Niazi, Dr Hussain Ahmad Paracha, Dr Nabila Rahman, Sajjad Mir, Shaukat Ali, Arif Lohar, Baba Najmi, Bushra Ejaz, Amina Ulfat, Haroon Adeem, Iqbal Qaisar, Mudassir Iqbal Butt, Shahida Mini, Beena Goindi, Sarwat Mohiuddin, Arshad Ansari, Naveed Chaudhry, Mansoor Afaq, Habib Mian and others related to the field of Punjabi language, art and culture also spoke on the occasion.
Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2019
