MANSEHRA: Saying Hindko is the second largest regional language in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after Pashto, the speakers at a dialogue here on Wednesday asked the government to approve the master’s programmes in it.

The event titled ‘Hindko literature and culture’ was organised by the Gandhara Hindko Board’s Hazara chapter.

Educationists, academics, doctors, linguists, historians and other professionals attended the event.

The first vice-chancellor of Hazara University, Dr Ashraf Adil, said if both government and society won’t give the due importance to regional languages, they would die fast.

He said families should prefer to speak mother or regional languages at home as they offered the easiest and better way to them to communicate with children.

“Though importance of national and English languages can’t be ruled out in this modern age, regional languages have the easiest way of communication in family and outside,” he said.

General secretary of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Gandhara Hindko Board Peshawar Mohammad Ziauddin said the Higher Education Commission had approved Hindko as the medium of instruction for bachelor’s programmes but there was a need for introducing the Gandhara era language at the master’s level as well.

“The discovery of Gandhara artifacts revealed that Hindko is one of the ancient languages, so it should be preserved,” he said. Mr Ziauddin said only a private university in Peshawar was awarding bachelor’s degree in Hindko.

He said the government should ensure that other public sector universities follow suit.

President of the board’s Hazara chapter Akhtar Naeem said the government should give regional languages the due importance and promote them internationally like tourism and other sectors.

KILLED: A man killed his wife and her alleged paramour in Gugbanda area of Kolai-Palas district on Tuesday night.

The police registered an FIR and began search for the killer, who fled after firing.

Meanwhile, Tehreek-i-Sooba Hazara convener Mushtaq Khan on Wednesday warned that the resumption of toll collection by the National Highway Authority on the Karakoram Highway in Khatain-da-Galla area would create a law and order situation. He told reporters that the NHA hadn’t executed any development project in the district for a long time.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2019