ISLAMABAD: The Mother Languages Literature Festival drew a diverse audience to the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA), from amongst students and researchers, writers and critics, interested in the state of indigenous languages, emerging literature and historiography.

Indus Cultural Forum curated nine sessions filled with talks and book launches, including a multilingual mushaira, in which 25 books of poetry in different languages were launched.

Speaking in the session on ‘Alternative Discourse on History’ moderated by Mazhar Arif, Naseer Memon said that our rulers have never learned from history as they keep repeating the same mistakes. His Sindhi book Development of Punjab under the British Rajis a journey through the colonial period in Punjab.

Former senator Farhatullah Babar said history had been written from the perspective of rulers and not from the perspective of those ruled - the peoples’ perspective has always been ignored.

A session was held on the translation of books from different Pakistani languages.

Yasin Junejo, a Sindhi writer who translated two novels of Muddasir Bashir from Punjabi, said the translations were useful for reducing the discriminatory attitude between the languages.

Kalsoom Zeb, a prominent Pashto writer who translated Dr Humaira Ishfaq’s Urdu novel about Rabia Khuzdari, the prominent female poet of Balochistan, said a novel written about a woman, by a woman and translated by a woman was a great and unique experience for her.

In the session ‘Emerging 21st Century Trends in Pakistani Mother Languages Literature’, prominent literary critics discussed the themes that have emerged in various languages in the 21st century.

Speaking about Pashto literature, Kamran Achakzai said the new topics of literature in Balochistan had emerged due to policies of Islamabad, while Dr Mubarak Lashari said Sindhi literature was full of diverse subjects which had been depicted by the divide between right and left.

In a session on ‘Heritage Conservation- Role of writers and indigenous languages literature’, Fatema Hassan said writers and poets had an important responsibility to raise their voice for the preservation and protection of the tangible and intangible heritage of the country.

Aziz Kingrani, a Sindhi writer, spoke about his book on Sindh’s heritage sites and shared that many heritage sites were on the verge of extinction and saving them was very important.

Khalil Kunbhar, a prominent poet of Sindhi language and cultural activist, spoke about the issues of extinction because of industrial level mining of granite.

Various works of folk literature were launched, including books by Ali Toorani (Hazargi), Kalsoom Zeb (Pashto), Sabir Syed (Balochi), Bharumal Amrani (Urdu/Dhatki), Prof Saadat Khan Akbar (Pahari), Momin Mazar (Balochi), Shafqat Asmi (Brahui/Punjabi), Faisal Irfan (Potohari), Akhtar Mirza (Haryanvi), Shakel Phalan (Balochi) and Amir Haider Bagoro (Shina).

Farrukh Yar, Dr Khaqan Haider Ghazi, Dr Makhmoor Bukhari, Akhtar Dargahi and Ismatullah Shah discussed their books about Sachal Sarmast, Shah Hussain, Bedil Bekas and Khawaja Ghulam Farid in a session dedicated to Sufi poets of Pakistan.

A session on ‘Climate Change, Culture and Languages’ explored the connection between folk wisdom and climate adaptation.

Speaking in the session Naseer Memon, Bharumal and Adnan Khan said climate change impacted all aspects of our daily lives.

A session was dedicated to Unesco’s International Decade for Indigenous Languages in which stories of struggle and success in preserving indigenous languages were discussed.

While Chairman Sindhi Language Authority Dr Ishaq Samejo, writer Inam Shaikh, language researcher and activist Zaman Sagar, language researcher Talib Jan, Additional Secretary, Sindh Culture Department Abdul Ghani Mahar and others spoke about the policies of the state that were not supportive of the preservation and protection of languages, Farhatullah Babar said it was the social responsibility of people as well to preserve their own languages.

The second day of the festival concluded with a multilingual mushaira, where poets introduced their books and recited the poetry in their own language and shared its translation in Urdu. The mushaira was presided over by Aakash Ansari, the legendary Sindhi poet; and Aziz Shahid, renowned Seraiki poet. Baba Najmi, the prominent Punjabi poet, and Allah Bux Buzdar, the celebrated Balochi poet, were chief guests at the mushaira.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2024