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PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information and culture minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Tuesday said the government would introduce culture as a subject in syllabus and that a crash training programme for Pashto teaching was being planned.
He said this while addressing a function held in line with International Mothers Languages Day here at Nishtar Hall. The function was jointly arranged by the provincial culture department and Poha Khprawonkai Jirga.
The minister said his government equally respected all mother languages and had set up a regional language authority to promote all mother languages in the province. He said due representation would be given to all mother languages according to their status.
He said it was need of the hour to provide equal promotion opportunities to languages and cultures of all regional areas as that would pave way for national unity and solidarity.
Mr Iftikhar said language was identity of a nation and without the identity, the nation lost its authority and the government had kept people without identity for 63 years.
He said inclusion of all mother languages in syllabus and declaring them compulsory from Class-I to 2nd year was a revolutionary step of the government.
The chief minister said after 18th Constitutional Amendment, preparation of syllabus was provincial subject and the government had decided to revisit the syllabus for meeting modern day needs.
He said Pashto subject would be re-introduced in all educational institutions including private institutions as compulsory subject and those who did not acted upon the decision would be punished accordingly.
He said use of the name other than Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the province were tantamount to committing constitutional crime and the culpable would be dealt with strictly under the law.
Noted among those in attendance were Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board chairman Dr Fazal Rahim Marwat, Raj Wali Khan Khattak, Sadullah Jan Barq, Rehmat Shah Sail, Habibullah Rafi, Yar Mohammad Maghmoom, Akbar Siyal and Mukhtar Yousafzai, who spoke on importance of mother languages.
Also in the day, Gandhara Hindko Board and Mother Tongue for Research and Education organised a seminar at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KPCCI) to mark the day.
Panelists demanded necessary amendments to the Constitution for giving national status to regional languages for their preservation and promotion.
KPCCI president Afan Aziz, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said mother language had a great role to play in creating public awareness of development.
He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was home to several sweet languages and cultures that could be likened to a cluster of beautiful flowers.
“The world shouldn’t overlook this multilingual and multicultural aspect of our province. All of our languages should be developed without bias,” he said.
Former Jamaat-i-Islami MNA Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrail said all languages needed respect and attention for being divine gifts.
“They should be preserved and promoted as they are an asset to humanity,” he said.
Speakers later passed several resolutions that called for proper attention to mother languages of the province.
