Scholars stress saving local languages

ISLAMABAD, May 28: There are 6,000 languages in the world out of which every year 2,500 vanish from the face earth, so we need to make sure that our local languages remain alive. It was stated by Federal Secretary Ministry of National Heritage and Integration, Asif Ghafoor during launching ceremony of five books held at National Language Authority on Monday. Books which were launched were Urdu as a Secondary Language by Dr Suleman Athar, Liberalism in Urdu Literature by Dr Riffat Iqbal, Dr Abdul Salam Khursheed by Dr Mohammad Shahzad, Urdu Novel and Decline of Human Nature by Bazgha Qandeel and Hewanat ki Alamti Haesiat by Saeed Ahmed. The secretary said the literary persons should take steps to secure the local languages so that they would carry on. He said Indian channels and movies have badly affected our national language.  Author Dr Suleman Athar said that in his book he had tried to convey the message that all the languages were very important and they should be protected.  Author Dr Mohammad Shahzad said he had chosen Dr Abdul Salam as the subject of his book because he had really done well in the field of education and journalism. Author Riffat Iqbal said that he had discussed the liberalism of new era in his book and tried to relate it with the past. Author Bazgha Qandeel said that she had tried to show the downfall of the human beings.  Dr Hanif Khalil of Quaid-i-Azam University while commenting on the book of Dr Suleman Athar said the local languages should be protected and the only way to protect them is that those languages should be introduced in the syllabus at provincial level. He gave the example of Sindhi and said that it had become the language of courts and the official language of the province. Manzar Naqvi while talking about the book of Riffat Iqbal said that the author had discussed different cultures and liberalism in them. In that book even freedom movements and their impacts had been discussed in detail, he added. Dr Roshan Aara while talking about the book of Dr Mohammad Shahzad said, “Although, usually there is a difference between personality of author and his writing but the book about Dr Abdul Salam reflects his true self.” Abid Sial while giving his expert opinion on the book of Bazgha Qandeel said that most of the quotes in the book had been taken from the Holy Quran. Hameed Shahid while discussing about the book of Saeed Ahmed said the book showed the difference between human beings and animals besides telling the history of story-telling in the Indian Subcontinent.]]>