LAHORE: Representatives of nearly a dozen organisations on Friday organised a one-day hunger strike in Lahore to protest the discrimination against Punjabi language.
Addressing the demonstrators outside Lahore Press Club on Friday, Punjabi Parchar President Ahmad Raza demanded the government to take practical steps to make Punjabi the official language in the country’s most populous province. “Seventy years after partition, Punjabi is still struggling to get official recognition. The language is not the medium of instruction in schools and colleges in the province.”
“Article 251 of the constitution of the Republic of Pakistan binds the provinces to adopt necessary measures for promotion, teaching and usage of regional languages but Punjab government has not taken any step in that direction and has not adopted measures to teach Punjabi in schools,” Raza stated.
The government still has time to take notice of this issue, he said, adding: “Punjabi Parchar demands adoption of Punjabi as a medium of instruction till the primary level in schools and as a compulsory subject till graduation. We want a bill to be taken up in Punjab Assembly for the promotion of Punjabi.”
Prof Tariq Jatala, the secretary general of Punjabi Parchar, said that experts around the world have realised the importance of mother tongue in early education which UNESCO has also emphasized; however, the government of Punjab is deliberately keeping students in the dark by not teaching the language.
He maintained that the government’s policy of ignoring Punjabi language for decades is ruining Punjabi literature and heritage. “To save this language, the (Punjab) government must adopt Punjabi as a compulsory subject in educational institutions,” he added.
Besides Punjabi Parchar, Punjabi Adabi Board and Punjabi Khojgah are also struggling to get official status for the language.
Later, activists from these organisations held a protest rally from Lahore Press Club to Punjab Assembly in which a large number of teachers, students, and members of civil society took part.