PESHAWAR, April 11: The Gandhara Hindko Board has demanded of the government to take concrete measures for the promotion of Hindko, which was the language of Gandhara period.

Speakers here on Thursday at a board meeting demanded of the NWFP government to give the Hindko language its due status. The gathering was presided over by board’s Chief Organizer Haji Haleem Jan.

They also reviewed performance of the board and offered various suggestions to make it a strong literary forum and cultural symbol of the Hindko-speaking people.

The speakers highlighted the importance of the Hindko language during the golden age of Gandhara Civilization, claiming that the centuries-old Buddhist civilization had been linked with this part of the world where Hindko was a medium of education. Therefore, a majority of the Frontier people could speak and understand Hindko, they added.

They said that owing to its strong ties and attachment with a culturally-rich civilization, Hindko had much influence over the other local languages. Even Hindko, they said, had contributed many words to other languages, including Urdu.

Though a majority of the people living in Kohat, Peshawar and Hazara were communicating with each other in Hindko, the government had always ignored the language, they regretted.

Through a resolution, they demanded of the NWFP government to give Hindko its rightful place so that a sense of deprivation prevailing among the Hindkowans could be eradicated.