ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel has called for the formation of a national language commission to develop criteria for giving national language status to all major languages spoken in the country.

A meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage presided over by Marvi Memon of the PML-N on Thursday adopted a resolution for setting up the commission. The commission will protect and promote mother tongues of Pakistan, giving them the national language status to enhance inter-provincial harmony.

Azhar Jadoon, Talal Chaudhry, Gulam Bibi Barwani, Syed Ahmed Ali Shah, 11 other lawmakers and language experts attended the meeting.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the history and importance of Pakistan’s mother tongues, their national language status and their role in creating inter-provincial harmony.

In the resolution, the lawmakers appreciated the importance of the country’s major mother tongues like Balochi, Balti, Brushaski, Brahui, Hindko, Khowar, Kashmiri, Pahari, Pashto, Punjabi, Seraiki, Shina and Sindhi.