Punjabi in schools: Pro-Punjabi outfits in Pakistan threaten hunger strike

BATHINDA: Fight for getting Punjabi language its due is going on unabated in Pakistan's Punjab province, where the language is believed to have originated. About half a dozen organizations have been fighting to make Punjabi a compulsory subject from primary to post-graduation levels and a medium of instruction in government schools and, on Saturday, held their third protest in the last month and a half.
Pro-Punjabi outfits-Punjabi Abdi Board, Punjabi Prachar, Punjabi Khojgarh, World Punjabi Congress, Institute for Peace and Secular Studies-had earlier held two protests in the last week of August. They have now threatened to hold a hunger strike before the provincial assembly if Punjabi is not adopted as a compulsory subject.
Punjabi is not the medium of instruction in schools in Pakistan Punjab and is is taught only as an elective subject in intermediate, graduation and post-graduation levels.
"Article 251 of the Constitution of Pakistan binds the provinces to adopt necessary measure for promotion, teaching and usage of regional languages, but despite repeated requests, Punjab government has not taken any step in this direction. It has not taken any measures to teach Punjabi in schools. Students of colleges and universities staged a rally before Press Club, Lahore, to press for their demand. A large number of teachers, poets, intellectuals, members of Punjabi organizations from all over Punjab and members of civil society took part in the rally," said Punjabi Parchar president Ahmed Raza.
Raza said whole world was aware about the role of mother tongue in early education with Unesco emphasizing its need at the primary level. "But Punjab government is deliberately making our children remain ignorant by banning education in their mother tongue," he said.
Votaries of Punjabi, including Tariq Jatala, Farhad Iqbal, Diep Saeeda, Khalil Ojla, Afzal Sahir, Jamil Ahmad Paul, Mazhar Tirmazi, Mushtaq Sufi, Biya Je, Tohid Ahmad Chattha and Bilal Shaker Kahaloon, have asked government to take immediate steps to start teaching the language of 15 crore people, which is also the language of great Sufi poets of Punjab. Punjabi is written in Shahmukhi script in Pakistan whereas in India it is written in Gurmukhi.
"We are raising the issue before the authorities to adopt the Punjabi language at official level, but they are least concerned," said Institute for Peace and Secular Studies (IPSS) director Diep Saeeda. Baluchi, Sindhi and Pashto are being taught in the other three provinces of Pakistan, but only Punjabi was being neglected, she said.
Punjabi poet Afzal Saahir said, "Punjabi is our mother tongue and it should not be kept away from us. Will not sit back till it is not achieved."