2nd International Punjabi Conference @LUMS: News, Clips and Photos

2nd International Punjabi Conference @LUMS News, Clips and Photos 

Punjabi is among the biggest languages in the world that have more than 200 million speakers but it is similarly among rare examples too and still it is facing serious problems. In a recent interview an Indian writer Sukirat Singh Anand said,
''Punjabi has two scripts — Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi. Punjabi is the worst victim of communal divide. In Indian Punjab, after partition, communal divide did not stop and in the first census of 1951, Punjabi Hindus were instructed to register Hindi as their mother tongue. In both Punjabs and elsewhere more than 200 million people speak Punjabi. It is high time for Punjabis to rethink about the future of their language. It is the duty of the universities to accept this challenge in both Punjabs.'' The News on Sunday' 17 March 2019
http://tns.thenews.com.pk/bjp-product-prejudices-policies/?fbclid=IwAR1rXGTl2vXytbGEuDhhtBc7r9XL-GHT6Z6XZLeJl3gUVLL-iSELRanj9vA#.XI58byIzbIX

As par 19th century famous educationist G W Leitner learning of #Punjabi was part of education in pre-British times and in his famous 1882 report he had mentioned many books and schools. His report was based on 1851 report that was prepared just two years after annexation of the #Punjab. But in 1850s colonial rulers had imposed Urdu and smartly attribute it with Islamic Language, good for Punjabi Muslims while same administration had allowed Sikhs to read, learn Punjabi but in Gumukhi script. Colonial rulers had expelled Persian and replaced it with English already. As Punjab had three religious communities so colonial rulers played with communal divide. In 1952, State of Pakistan used same Urdu language as sole national language yet due to resistance they had to accept Bengali as co-national language in first Pakistani Constitution of 1956. It is to be noted that colonial rulers had accepted use of Sindhi & Bengali but did not allowed Pukhstoons, Balochs, Kashmiris and Punjabis to use their respective mother tongues, thanks to Frontier Forward Policy. After creation of Bangladesh, Bhutto government had accepted diversity of languages largely and we had witnessed government support for Sindhi, Balochi, Brahvi, Pushto and Punjabi adbi boards. At this stage a new mantra was coined to divide Pakistani mother tongues on the basis of dialects. It was a smart move to protect status-co from other side of the fence. The case is complex but largely all players accept diversity yet they have their plans too. In this context it is important to have international Punjabi conferences especially owned by research institutions like LUMS.   

Zubaida Mustafa on Education & myths related to use of mother tongues.

The Importance of Language in Education

By Zubeida Mustafa

I shall begin this paper by listing five myths which have dominated our collective thinking on language in education in Pakistan. This thinking also shapes the narrative on education in many other countries that were decolonised  less than a century ago.

Read @ http://www.wichaar.com/news/124/ARTICLE/34121/2019-03-17.html 

Reporting of presentation of Sharon Correll

http://www.wichaar.com/news/119/ARTICLE/34119/2019-03-16.html

Reporting of presentation of Tony Capstick
http://www.wichaar.com/news/124/ARTICLE/34111/2019-03-03.html

Nain Sukh sharing his views about his Punjabi Novel Madhu Lal Hussein. Hafiz Khan, Musrat Kalanchvi, Parveen Malik are also seen.
https://www.facebook.com/7syed/videos/10157093159204532/?comment_id=10157093176194532&notif_id=1551017452894240&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic_tagged


Some more pictures and videos
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP2Veb7LqAHWwnoKDjHE6T_xcNTMKuTq79uJjEYEsy5xeoydVSjisBinNoyFQor3Q?key=Z05HamUyczBBN1Z2b2RPYmxsT1RSd1ZKLXRBRHVB

Reporting of 2nd Day of 2nd International #Punjabi Conference @ LUMS, Lhore along with reports, clips etc of First Punjabi Conference
http://www.wichaar.com/news/117/ARTICLE/34108/2019-02-24.html