QUETTA: Speakers at a seminar said on Sunday that global cultural and linguistic harmony and solidarity can be established only through promotion of all languages spoken in the world.

The death of languages leads to the abandonment of culture as culture, history, art and literature are due to the mother tongue, they said at the seminar organised by Balochi Labzanki Dewan Quetta to mark the world international mother languages day at the Quetta Press Club.

MPA Shakeela Naveed Dewar, Prof Barkat Kakar, Lala Jabbar Abdul Karim Faryadi, Noor Khan Moha­mmad Hassani, Yarjan Badini, Mohammad Iqbal Khan Kakar, Wahab Sho­haz, Najeeb Sarpara, Bijar Marri, Bari Baloch, Yahya Reiki and Larib Baloch spoke at the seminar.

In drafting the 18th Amendment, they said, it was ignored that national languages spoken in all the provinces should be given constitutional protection.

The speakers said about 7,000 languages are currently spoken in the world, while 516 have become extinct.

“Education in the mother tongue is a basic human right because it enables children to learn new things very quickly. It is understood that the countries which have made progress have given importance to their mother tongues,” they added.

The speakers said local languages in Pakistan, especially in Balochistan, were facing difficulties due to lack of curriculum in schools. They urged the government to promote Balochi, Brahui and Pashto languages.

They said that in the past teaching in local languages had been started up to primary level, but the practice was not continued.

They said: “Pakistan is a country where people from different cultures speak their own languages and it’s a sign of diversity and versatility so the government should take necessary steps for the development and promotion of mother tongues and provide funds for this purpose.”

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2021