Call to Set up Punjabi University

Lahore:March 21:THE Second National Punjabi Conference was held here under the auspices of World Punjabi Congress (WPC) to highlight the injustice being consistently meted out to Punjabi language and culture, at Institute of Punjabi Language and Culture, Gaddafi Complex, Ferozepur Road on Friday.

The WPC Chairman said that despite our efforts Punjabi was not being given the rightful place. He called for making Punjabi a language for primary level, establishment of Punjabi University, a radical change in the curriculum in colleges and university, employment of over 10,000 MA Punjabi degree holders and language of Punjab Assembly be declared Punjabi. He said that starting next month peaceful process would be held in Lahore and other divisional headquarters which would follow further steps to be decided jointly by the Punjabi organisation. He reiterated that Punjabi language should be extricated from the mire of archaic usage, purism and literary fundamentalism. He announced that every month one-day national conferences would be held to press our demands. He regretted that the Punjab government and its anti-Punjabi bureaucracy regrettably meted out step-motherly treatment to the language of great Sufi poets and cultural heritage of the Punjab province. He said TV channels and print media were showing little respect for this language, which according to UNESCO report is the 10th biggest language in the world. Dr M Nizamuddin, the Chairman of Higher Education Commission Punjab and former VC of Gujrat University agreed that Punjabi should be taught at the primary level and a Punjabi University should be established in Lahore. He said the Higher Education Commission would render maximum facility in setting up such university. Dr Nizamuddin assured the audience and the WPC especially that he would look into the change in syllabi of Punjabi teaching and make it reflective of the contemporary sensibilities of eminent Punjabi writers.

Dr Mehdi Hasan said that the Punjabi themselves were to be blamed for the neglect of their mother tongue. Zubair Ahmed, Jamil Pal, Mudassar Butt, Ehtesham Rabbani, Tanvir Zahoor, Neelam Bashir, Dr Nabila Omer, Prof Saeed Bhutta, Dr Naheed Shahid, Dr Ismatullah Zahid, Hafeez Sheikh, Parveen Malik, Mushtaq Sufi, Parveen Atif, Abdullah Malik, Dr Shahid Dilawar, Parveen Sijal, Dr Ajmal Niazi, Adeeb Javedani, Dr Navid Shahzad, Qazi Javed, Prof Qamar Abbas, Shariq Nizami and others forcefully advocated the recognition of Punjabi language at all levels. They said contemporary Punjabi languages should be translated into English and uploaded on the Internet. They agreed to the keynote address of WPC Chairman Fakhar Zaman that a Punjabi University should be established in Lahore and new syllabi be drawn up and new textbooks be written by prominent scholars and educationists. A mushaira was also held where poets recited their poetry.

At the end of the session, a Lahore Declaration issued unanimously reiterated the points made by the speakers. It said that if peaceful protests were not heeded, then they would take out demonstration in front of Punjab Assembly if demands as espoused by different speakers were not met. It declared that Sufism should be taught at the college level and one full paper at the Master level. The news.