Altaf Hussain Asad reports on last month’s World Mother Language Day activities in Lahore and what needs to be done to rid Punjabis of their apathy for the language .



World Mother Language day falls on February 21 and people celebrate the day across the globe by resolving to respect the cultural diversity that springs up due to the intermingling of different languages and dialects. Here in Lahore too people belonging to different walks of life came forward and made their presence felt by arranging an impressive show. Punjabi activists, academics, NGO workers, leftist workers, lawyers and students of the colleges and universities staged a demonstration which started from Lahore Press Club and concluded at the Punjab Assembly. Lead by celebrated Punjabi poet and intellectual Mushtaq Soofi who is also the chairman of the Punjabi Adbi Board the demonstration proved to be quite impressive in terms of the attendance; in the past only a handful of people used to stage a sit in on the Mall on the eve of the Mother Language day. Mushtaq Soofi was happy to see the gathering this year. “We are happy to see that more people participated in the demonstration this year. We demand that Punjabi language should be made a compulsory subject from class one. Punjabi is there as an optional subject in the degree classes but a language flourishes only if you introduce it at the grass root level. We demanded a grant of 2.5 million rupees for the Punjabi Adbi Board from the Punjab Government but received only a meager sum of 1 Lac. Instead of issuing the amount we had demanded from the government it reduced our grant from 3 Lac to 1 Lac. In Sindh there are many institutions working for Sindhi language and culture and they receive grants in millions from the government”, Mushtaq Soofi rues. Amid the din of the slogans in the favor of Punjabi language and culture the participants of the demonstration were fully charged to demand the right of their mother tongue. Perveen Malik, Punjabi writer secretary of the Punjabi Adbi Sangat, was of the view that it’s the right of Punjabis to demand the imposition of their mother tongue in the schools in Punjab. The paucity of the funds the Adbi Board is facing will not deter us in doing work for Punjabi, she resolved.

The light drizzle during the demonstration failed to dent the resolve of the participants as they went on cheering and chanting slogans for the due status of their mother tongue. Baba Najmi, a noted Punjabi poet, was there too. He too looked quite thrilled to new faces joining the cause of the Punjabi language this year. Human rights activist and publisher Amjad Salim Minhas who is also the convenor of Punjab Lok Sangat was quite excited as he tried hard to gather people from various groups and leftist parties for this joint iniative. “This year we have been able to attract an impressive crowd. Let me tell you that many of our friends could not attend the demonstration here as they have arranged such activities in their hometowns. In Islamabad, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Gujrat, Multan, Mandi Bhauddin, Pakpattan, Bhakkar and in many other cities our friends are arranging such precessions and staging plays to motivate the people about the importance of adopting the mother tongue. We plan to arrange such activities on monthly basis and we will not restrict such activities to one demonstration each year”, said Amjad Salim Minhas. A few lawyers also chanted slogans and carried placards in support of Punjabi language. Tahir Sindhu a lawyer as well as a Punjabi short story writer said that there were only a few lawyers this time but he plans to bring more and more lawyers on board soon. Women were also there in good numbers including girls from Lahore College. A student of Lahore College was of the view that the government should give due status to the Punjabi language. A researcher and Punjabi activist Iqbal Qaiser said, “We are demanding our constitutional right as enshrined in 1973’s constitution in which it has been clearly stated that provinces can adopt their mother tongue. Sadly our rulers have denied us our right so far. I am glad to see good number of people participating in the procession this year as in the past only 10 to 15 people used to stage sit in on the Mall”. Apart from the Punjab Lok Sangat, the activists of Punjab Lok Sujag, Punjabi Sangat Pakistan, Masud Khaddarposh Trust, Communist Mazdoor Kisan Party, Awami Workers Party participated in the demonstration. The organized and peaceful and civilized procession ended at the Punjab Assembly where the participants presented a memorandum to the Govt of Punjab. The bold and blunt verses of Baba Najmi electrified the crowd. Mushtaq Soofi, Perveen Malik, Farooq Tariq and Amjad Salim Minhas felicitated the audience for turning up in good numbers.

The Friday Times