World Pashto Conference: Pashtoon Cultural Day to be observed Sept 23
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QUETTA: Organisers of the World Pashto Conference decided during the three-day event to celebrate 'Pashtoon Culture Day' every year on September 23.
Balochistan Chief Minister Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch, while chairing the concluding ceremony of the conference, said:
"My government is determined to promote all languages," adding that his government had increased grants for Balochi, Brahvi and Pashto academies in an attempt to promote languages.
Writers, poets, intellectuals, authors and literary figures had earlier demanded the government to make Pashto an official and educational language.
Speakers at the World Pashto Conference spoke at length on the importance of mother languages and urged the federal government to grant national and official status to all languages in the country.
Pashto Academy Quetta organised a three-day Pashto International Conference "Pashto Language and Globalisation, Challenges and Possibilities" at a local hotel in Quetta on Saturday.
Governor Balochistan Muhammad Khan Achakzai, while inaugurating the conference, termed the mother language imperative for the promotion of education and success of a society.
Renowned Pashto literary personalities from Kabul, Kandahar, Canada, Germany and various parts of the world participated in the conference, which thoroughly discussed history, the importance of, and challenges to, the Pashto language.
Prominent among those who participated in the Conference were Pashto Academy President Syed Khair Muhammad Arif, Muhammad Masoom Hotak from Canada, Wali Muhammad Achakzai from Germany, Habibullah Rafi from Kabul Afghanistan, Professor Dr. Fazal Rahim Marwat, Vice Chancellor Bacha Khan University Charsada, Abdul Ghafoor Lewal from Afghanistan and others.
"Committed nations make their dead languages alive," Muhammad Khan Achakzai said while referring to various ancient languages around the globe. He pointed out that Pashto was neither an educational nor official language, but Pashto-loving personalities were still publishing books in Pashto, despite the odds.
The chief of Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Mehmood Khan Achakzai, said that throughout the history Pashtoons have not believed in sectarianism neither were they terrorists, rather they always stood for peace and development.
Achakzai expressed these views while addressing World Pashto Conference. "We were and are peace loving people," he told literary figures and political workers gathered at the three-day World Conference.
The Pashtoon nationalist leader stated that slogans of terrorism and extremism were propagated against Pashtoons just to malign them.
He urged upon intellectuals, poets and authors to play their pivotal roles in promoting peace and love in the society.
The work of literary personalities is to represent the society and create awareness among the people, he said.
"Pashtoons now strive for peace, despite odds", he added. Achakzai said destroying the entire Waziristan because of the presence of "only 2 percent banned TTP men was beyond imagination."
Mehmood Achakzai said that instead of constructing Kala Bagh Dam, the government should focus on the Khushhal Biraj Dam to avoid any controversy.
Pashto writers, poets, intellectuals, journalists and authors presented their papers during the conference and thoroughly shed light on the history and importance of Pashto language. "Everyone has to work hard for promotion of Pashto," Habibullah Rafi, a writer from Afghanistan told the participants of the conference.
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Comments (52) Closed
Sep 13, 2015 04:14pm
Pashto is a beautiful and ancient language. Its a pride of Pakistan. It must be encouraged further as another official language.
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Sep 13, 2015 04:36pm
As a Pathan, I have only one national language-that is URDU.
They have just wasted time holding this conference. I remembered we were thought Pashto till class 8th, now a days nothing is about pashto.
My suggestions is to implement Pashto as compulsory subject in KPK till matric.
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Sep 13, 2015 04:56pm
Mother tongue must be the main source of learning and this is natural and easiest way of advancement for any human being.The main hurdle is that we must have advance scientific,economic,social and other subjects books and reading material in Pushto language.So an study must be undertaken and where this is shortfall to be taken care off.
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Sep 13, 2015 05:06pm
Literature is the expression of a feeling of deprivation, a recourse against a sense of something missing. But the contrary is also true: language is what makes us human. It is a recourse against the meaningless noise and silence of nature and history.
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Sep 13, 2015 05:07pm
I hope all native languages in the country are adequately supported to preserve their distinctive characteristics for the future generations. It is normal for languages to evolve with time but it is critical to have academic bodies that work as custodians of the linguistic heritage of a nation.
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Sep 13, 2015 05:09pm
As a Lahori, I would have loved to learn Pashto/Balochi/Sariaki/Sindhi etc plus Urdu... while in School - heck, I should've had a choice, at the very least!
How are we supposed to integrate better as a nation, if we cannot communicate properly!
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Sep 13, 2015 05:16pm
Seems too late. . . Pashto Should be demanded as one of the National Language in 1952.
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Sep 13, 2015 05:37pm
Don't know a single word of Pashto but still feel the sweetness of this language
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Sep 13, 2015 05:48pm
With due respect to our local languages, we should keep our national language Urdu as binding and communicating language among our federating units,which is must for cohesion of our country. Even though we talk lot about pashto,Sindhi, Baluchi, sariaki ,hazara etc,one of our beautiful language Punjabi is neglected more than any other local languages by our elite.
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Sep 13, 2015 05:50pm
The mother tongue importance is agreed by scholars and academician all over the world. UNO has also accepted its importance and a special day has been allocated to highlight its importance. It was the denial of this fact that Pakistan lost its one wing.
It is hoped that Pakistan will stop swimming against the current of flow and approach the problem with sanity and logic.
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Sep 13, 2015 05:57pm
@last comment - You remind me of an old man who was our neighbour in Mardan. On 14th August 1992, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made an Independence Day speech. Our neighbour came to visit us in the afternoon and told us that the 'President' had made a very good speech. I asked him what he had said in the speech. He replied,' I could not understand a single word but it was a good speech'.
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Sep 13, 2015 06:49pm
English is the global language and should be promoted to make advancement in field of science an technology. Arabic should be taught for better understanding of religion not extremism . Lived in states for 22 years never heard any one speaking in Dutch , Scottish , Irish , German , Portuguese , French . English language is the only language glue this Nation of migrants and spoken all across USA. Promoting local languages does not create unity but differences and waste resources of this poor nation.
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Sep 13, 2015 07:04pm
Pakistan has four provinces and four distinct provincial languages, like Punjabi, Sindhi, Baluchi and Pushto. However, Urdu (which is the main language of Muhajirs from India) is now made the official language. How can a language spoken by minorities of Pakistan become a national language. English should be the unifying language of Pakistan.
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Sep 13, 2015 07:09pm
@Abdul Abdul when US say's "world opinion" it means US and it's allies. You do not hear any other language in US is because that is the language of that country, similarly like italian and french is spoken in their part of the world.
During and after the 2nd world war, US gathered numerous scientist from the european countries, and translated their knowledge into english to get where they are today.
We should make effort to translate, science subjects into our own national language. It appears there are not that many literate people who can do that and make it part of nationla curriculum.
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Sep 13, 2015 07:17pm
Agree . All regional languages should have official status. Good job
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Sep 13, 2015 07:20pm
Pushto, baluchi,sindhi, punjabI, Persian, Arabic, shena , siraiki should be optional subjects all over the pakistan. Well English is already there. Learning these languages will help the country to integrate nationally and regionally.
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Sep 13, 2015 07:25pm
@Kamran Asaf I am learning Chinese in my own time. Stop watching useless TV programs and there's at least 30 mins extra every day to learn whatever one wants to learn.
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Sep 13, 2015 07:27pm
@Abdul . I lived in USA for more than 30 years, US is getting more bi lingual. There are many areas where spanish is common Speaking more languages is strength not weakness. I would love to speak Pushto.
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Sep 13, 2015 07:57pm
No doubt he is right.
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Sep 13, 2015 08:01pm
All native languages of Pakistan should be national language.
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Sep 13, 2015 08:38pm
Instead of 6 national lanuages (Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi, Pashtoo and Gilgit/Baltistani) and five grounds to get incentives to create many more Bangladesh, we must stick to the Constitutional provision and adopt Urdu as the basic official and National language. We cannot succeed without a common language which should be the binding force for the UNITY of Nation.
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Sep 13, 2015 08:44pm
Total nonsense.
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Sep 13, 2015 09:07pm
Translation.
Learning in your mother tongue is everyone's right.
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Sep 13, 2015 09:22pm
Their next demand will be to make KP independent state. Urdu and only urdu shall remain Pakistan's national language in all over Pakistan.
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Sep 13, 2015 09:32pm
Pashto and other regional languages are tough and not really vast as urdu...Urdu should only be the official language for national uniformity not other.
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Sep 13, 2015 10:29pm
@M.Saeed I am not sure how well you are aware of the fact that imposition of Urdu as the national language upon the Bengali speaking majority had set the stage of separation immediately after of the founding of Pakistan.
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Sep 13, 2015 10:46pm
Why educational standards in India are somewhat better than in Pakistan is because children are taught in their mother tongue. The language of each state is the official language of that state. When I came from Punjab to serve in Tamil Nadu, I had to learn Tamil because all official work is in Tamil. Although it was tough initially, now I am both a Panjabi and a Tamilian This is how integration of different regions takes place.
I find that in many Tv programs from Pakistan, they switch over to Panjabi whenever they want to make a joke or say something emotional. This is because the language they speak at home is closer to their heart. Imposition of Urdu is artificial and will back fire some day.
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Sep 13, 2015 11:09pm
@naqeeb: I thought you were taught "Pashto" till 8th class.
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Sep 13, 2015 11:14pm
@Abdul ...I think you are over-generalizing your observation. Every language has its status and use. English is, of course, a global language and you can expect to communicate with its help, almost in every corner of the world. But at the same time, other languages too are necessary and they serve their purpose. For example, Urdu is a unifying factor for the whole of Pakistan, you can communicate in urdu in almost every part of Pakistan. Yet, there are local languages which preserve the history and heritage of their respective ethnicities.
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Sep 13, 2015 11:41pm
@Abdul I don't know where you live, but Spanish, mandarin, korean, Vietnamese, creole, and Portuguese are all very common in the US. In Pacific southwest 50% of the people speak Spanish.
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Sep 13, 2015 11:46pm
@Wonder English is not a global language. You will be hard pressed to find anyone speak it in continental europe. Places like France and Germany it's considered rude to use English.
In Greece less than 2% of the people speak English. The most spoken language in the world is Mandarin 1.4 billion speak it and understand it. You will find more people speaking Spanish than English.
It's only popular in former British colonies.
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Sep 13, 2015 11:52pm
My first language is Urdu, but I believe that we, as a nation, must make concerted efforts to not only keep all our regional languages alive, but to make them thrive.
This diversity of languages and culture is what makes our country full of creative possibilities. We should not loose this cultural advantage.
Let's not kid ourselves. We know that the government is not going to do anything. If we want to get anything done, we have to do it ourselves. And, believe me, we can do it.
Let's establish Pashto, Balochi, Sindhi, Punjabi, Gujarati, and other regional language academies, with the objective of promoting and developing all our languages.
Our languages are rich in literature and history. They are part of our nation's cultural heritage . Which makes it incumbent upon us to create an environment in which our languages could flourish. We will be richer for that.
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Sep 13, 2015 11:56pm
Pashto and balochi language should be taught in all schools in Pakistan. Pakistan has over 30 million pashto speakers most in the world.
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Sep 14, 2015 12:12am
Nice work Dawn for covering the event..
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Sep 14, 2015 12:40am
Pashto is one of the national languages of Pakistan, as it is the language of Pashtoons. No one can preserve it other than the Pashtoons themselves. Make it compulsory by law to be taught untill atleast 10th grade. Anounce incentives like scholarships, complementary marks for those who study it beyond 10th grade to enable them get admission in university courses. Introduce it as an official language of the province , patronise pashto newspapers and magazines by giving them share in official advertisements and purchasing them for offices,schools,colleges and universities. Announce annual debates , seminars , conferences conducted in Pashto. No one can take it away from the Pashtoons nor can anyone give it to them.
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Sep 14, 2015 01:14am
@JUSTICE And they are right in asking for that.
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Sep 14, 2015 01:27am
@Salim Khan What, Its pride of Pakhtonistan
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Sep 14, 2015 01:38am
15 % people speak Pashto in Pakistan why u put wrong figure there and u mentioned it 8% I think u have enmity against pashtoon and Pashto language
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Sep 14, 2015 03:07am
there is no one to talk about the heart of Pakistan,Pothwar and Pothwari and standings of Pothwar today (Kahuta) and centuries ago.
we love Pakistan
we love Urdu
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Sep 14, 2015 05:26am
Agreed!
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Sep 14, 2015 05:42am
I feel so fortunate to do my LL.B from Khyber Law College, Peshawar. I will always remember my two years' stay in Peshawar.
How can I forget the delicious "Chaplee" Kebab and the green tea in "Finjaan"? Pathans are the most hospitable people. Higher education at that time was almost free.
Long live the great Pashtun culture!
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Sep 14, 2015 07:57am
Under a pre-planned conspiracy the Pakhto language has been discredited and alien languages imposed upon us. Pakhto is discriminated and so its speakers as well. For instance if ever I speak in Pakhto with other Pakhtoon brother, I am sneered at with scorn and disgust by others. We are living in a society where Urdu, Arabic are acceptable but ironically my native language Pakhto is not. They through their behaviour discourage us to use Pakhto.
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Sep 14, 2015 08:16am
Pushto is no doubt a beautiful language but how can you demand National Status that can never happen in Pakistan
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Sep 14, 2015 08:21am
@Pakistani And waste children precious time on these useless subjects.......no wonder there is so much poverty in this region.
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Sep 14, 2015 09:09am
All the native languages of the country must be promoted but the decision about the status of any language must be based on principles and not on emotions. The national language should be the one that is most widely understood in the whole country. Similarly the language that is most widely understood in a province should be the provincial language. One national language promotes unity and this is the reason that most countries of the world have only one national language although many other languages are spoken there like Russia or China. Quaid-e-Azam rightly chose Urdu as the national language as it is the lingua franca of the country.
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Sep 14, 2015 09:30am
@Hassan there has been politicization of the subject.pakistanis love to give opinions when not needed.urdu and english are being taught already.
Regional cultures are beautiful and bring love,happiness and inner upleft.you do not replace Heer,Shah,s kaafis or Rehman baba.respect our beautiful mosaic culture.
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Sep 14, 2015 09:30am
indeed Pushtu is proud language blended will with other languages in pakistan
proud to be Pakistani pushtoon.
also baluchi,sindhi,punjabi are beauitiful languages ,it should not be forced but student should have an option if they want to study.
achakzai should atleast try to do make theaters and arts councils for baluchi and pashtu in baluchistan.
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Sep 14, 2015 10:33am
If Pushto is given national status than why not Punjabi,Sindhi,Brahvi,Saraiki,Balochi,Kashmiri etc. all should be given preferance as nobody except Pathaans can understand a word of what they are talking between two Pathaans.It is unfortunate that nobody thinks of National Language Urdu understood by all country and used as national integration symbol.
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Sep 14, 2015 11:04am
Indeed - good awareness and step for the future.
No language is helpful in conveying a message than its mother tongue!!
All languages should be taught in schools in all provinces.
And all subjects should be translated into national language for better understanding.
In EU you do feel this thing when everyone around you have selected even their windows language their own national one.
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Sep 14, 2015 02:23pm
urdu is the language of educated and respecful ppl.
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Sep 14, 2015 04:43pm
Urdu is a beautiful poetical language; but Pakistani Urdu has been moved towards an artificial shape to Arabic, as it's happened to Hindi in India just to shape it Sanskrit. Whereas these two sisterly languages were used to live together with its neutral root of Hindustani, the sweetest version of the nowadays Bollywood, thithen (up to 1971) Lollywood, and all over the world till now. Unfortunately, it's been partitioned intentionally since 1947 by the two opposite nationalist countries.
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Sep 15, 2015 10:27am
Well done Pashto Academy Quetta and Well Done PkMAP.
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