February is an auspicious month for human languages, especially for those which face a threat of gradual extinction or are denied their legitimate rights as vehicle of verbal and literary expression in a world where languages of dominant groups, classes and nations dominate as much in the sphere of communication as in the articulation of ideas. Domination by any segment of a society that wields power whether it’s economic, social or political eventually solidifies itself through linguistic construction. Domination of any kind is intrinsically hostile to diversity which is hallmark of the world we live in.

Realizing the need to protect and promote linguistic diversity, the United Nations declared 21st February the International Mother Language Day in memory of erstwhile Bengali students who were shot dead by police during the agitation over the issue of national language. The day is now celebrated all over the world every year. Present day Pakistan is no exception where language issue is politically charged and ideologically loaded.

Something very positive happened just a week before International Mother Language Day; two-day International Punjabi Conference at Lahore University of Management Sciences (Lums). The overarching theme was ‘Punjab’s Cultural Identity: Past and Present’. The conference was organised by Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Gurmani Centre for Languages and Literature of Lums on Feb 16 and 17. The conference kicked off with the welcome note by well-known writer and scholar Moeen Nizami, the director of Gurmani Centre. The keynote speaker was this scribe who provided a historical perspective on the long torturous journey of people’s language in the Punjab. Kamran Asdar Ali, a distinguished scholar and the dean of Gurmani School of Humanities, in his note of thanks appreciated the enthusiasm of the guests and participants especially those who came all the way from the USA, Canada, England and Ireland to make the event memorable.

The first session titled ‘socio-economic transformations in the Punjab’, moderated by a well-known poet, Sarvat Mohiuddin (Islamabad)] had a three panelists; Manzur Ejaz (USA), a well-respected writer and columnist, Tahir Kamran (Government College University, Lahore), a distinguished historian and Mahmood Awan (Ireland), a prominent poet and columnist.

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Manzur Ejaz with facts and data showed that Punjab, on both sides of the border, has undergone significant changes in terms of rapid urbanisation, dwindling share of agriculture in economies and rise of extremism. Changes in Punjab presaged the changes to come in other areas, he asserted.

Tahir Kamran analysed the role of language in reflecting the changes that have taken place in Punjab.

Mahmood Awan made an interesting presentation on a much-neglected aspect of our colonial past; the recruitment of young men from the poverty-stricken Salt Range during the First World War and how they were used as cannon fodder.

Next day the second session of the conference discussed the issue of ‘Language and Identity in Punjab’ which was moderated by Ali Usman Qasmi, a young scholar ( Lums), and discussants included Dr Tariq Rehman (BNU), the leading scholar on politics of language, Amarjit Chandan (England), a known poet and writer, and Gurmeet Kaur (USA), a folklorist and publisher of children folk stories. Dr Tariq Rehman explained how Punjabi, due to a host of historical reasons, was not employed as language of power but still it continued to be used as language of literary expression, pleasure and intimacy.

Amarjit Chandan talked about the absence of enthusiasm for Punjabiyat (Punjabihood) and consequent lack of national pride among Punjabis. Gurmeet Kaur emphasized the need of retrieving the age old treasure trove of children stories jettisoned under the alien influences as stories stirred children imagination creating a bond with the soil. The third session on ‘Gender Question in Classical Literature’ moderated by Zubair Ahmed, a known fiction writer, had on the panel Anne Murphy, a notable scholar of Punjab Studies at the University of British Columbia (Canada), Professor Saeed Bhutta, an established scholar, writer (GCU) and Jameel Pal, a well-known writer and editor of Punjabi daily ‘Lokai’.

Anne Murphy narrated her experience of staging a play on Komagata Maru, the famous ship with Punjabi folks on board, which was refused landing at the port in Vancouver in 1914. The play was devised in a manner that it could communicate to both Punjabi and English speaking audience.

Saeed Bhutta analysed the emergence of loving but defiant heroines like Heer and Sahiban who embodied the spirit of emancipation. Jameel Pal asked as to why mystic poets used female voice to explore women’s sufferings and express solidarity with them.

The fourth session had Kamran Asdar Ali (Lums) as moderator and on the panel were Pervaiz Vandal, a celebrated architect and respected teacher, Mazhar Tirmazi (England), a notable poet, and Nadhr Naeem Khan, a scholar and researcher (Lums).

Pervaiz Vandal narrated the anguish caused by the Partition of Punjab that split the families and the friends displaying the spectacular failure of those at the helm. Mazhar Tirmazi traced the traumatic experience of survivors of the communal riots through their stories he collected. Nadhra Khan traced how the colonel narrative using faith, ethnicity, class and caste accelerated the fissiparous tendencies among different communities. She analysed the process through which colonizers made efforts to pitch Muslims against Sikhs.

Qazi Javaid, a respected scholar and author, Iqbal Qaiser, a writer with deep interest in oral history, and this scribe discussed the question of selective owning of history by Punjabis in the 5th session moderated by Nadhra Khan. Qazi Javaid analysed how certain historical events were selected to create ideology-driven distorted narratives. Iqbal Qaiser citing examples from oral history explained why certain events were omitted to strengthen a particular narrative.

Syed Baber Ali, a reputable industrialist, respected cultural figure and philanthropist, was the chief guest at the closing ceremony. He thanked the participants and audiences to make the conference a success. Extending his support to prompting the Punjabi language and literature he hoped that the conference would become an annual event at Lums with significant impact on our literary and cultural life.