Activists on social media are also active these days for the promotion of Punjabi (Photo: Urdu News).
Punjabi language lovers in Pakistan have complained that their language has been systematically prevented from flourishing. Especially in ‘elite schools’ there is a formal ban on speaking Punjabi. However, the last few years have not only seen an increase in the number of people working for the promotion of Punjabi language, but there have also been several instances of these efforts receiving state patronage.
Punjabi Culture Day was officially started in Punjab province under Usman Buzdar’s government, which is now being held every year continuously.
The Punjab Assembly recently passed a unanimous resolution allowing MPs to make speeches in Punjabi as well as making Punjabi language compulsory in schools.
Secondly, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz seems to be taking steps to promote Punjabi culture and language.
An organization called Punjabi Prachar, which has been organizing the annual International Punjabi Conference for the last several years, is growing in popularity with each passing year, and Punjabi speakers from all over the world come together to think of ways to work more effectively. are
The International Punjabi Conference is still going on these days at the Punjab Institute of Language Art and Culture (PLAC) in Lahore.
Pakistan has issued visas to 37 Indian delegates to attend this three-day conference. Dozens of participants from Britain, America and Canada have also reached Lahore for this conference.
Sahaj Preet Mangat, who came to Pakistan from India for the seventh time, while talking to Urdu News said, ‘I have been coming to Pakistan for so many years and I have gradually seen that work on Punjabi is being done more than before. But the greater the loss of making an entire nation unfamiliar with the language and Shahmukhi script of Pakistani Punjab, it is much greater.
Continuing his speech, he said that ‘Well, I think that Punjabi language has gained a foothold at the global level. In which a major role is played by the cinema and singers of Indian Punjab. This is the reason why Punjabi is becoming mainstream now. And the shame that was attached to this language in Pakistan is slowly disappearing.’
Activists on social media are also active in promoting Punjabi these days.
Punjabi poet Afzal Sahir, who is participating in the International Punjabi Conference, says that the state policy regarding Punjabi is still unclear. Punjabi speakers have created their own identity on social media, so now the state is also getting some awareness. But they are more interested in normalizing relations with India. That is why they issue visas to the Sikh community of Hans, these visas are not issued out of love for Punjabis, but the background is political.’
Ahmad Raza Panjabi, the head of Punjabi propagation, says, “We wish very much that we get the same facility in spreading Punjabi as other languages in other provinces have.” In Sindh, FIR is also written in Sindhi. We thought that the state might now be kind to the Punjabis, but in this conference we held a dozen meetings with the government, but in the end we had to make all the arrangements under your help.’
According to an estimate, more than seven thousand languages are spoken in the world, while the number of speakers of Punjabi is more than 13 million and it is the ninth largest language in the world.
