Hunger strike in Lahore on Friday to get official status for Punjabi language (photo on Twitter)
Hunger strike to get official status for Punjabi language in Pakistan
To get due recognition for Punjabi language in Pakistan’s most populous province Punjab, a day-long hunger strike was observed on Friday in its capital city Lahore by member of over dozen organizations, reported Pakistan Today.
A demonstration was held outside Lahore Press Club where the president of Punjabi Prachar, Ahmad Raza demanded official status for the Punjabi language. It is highly ironical that Punjabi language has not been accorded this status in Punjab even 70 years after the Partition.
Raza rued that the mother language of the people of Punjab was not the medium of instruction in schools and colleges of the province even as Article 251 of the Constitution of Pakistan makes it mandatory to promote use of regional languages.
“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,”Raza was quoted as saying in the Pakistan Today report.
Besides Punjabi Parchar, other organisations including Adabi Board and Punjabi Khojgah have taken up cudgels of struggle for recognition of the language to preservation and promotion of Punjabi literature and heritage.
It was reported that the demonstrators including intellectuals, literary writers, teachers and students also organized a rally from Lahore Press Club to Punjab Assembly to highlight the official neglect of Punjabi language and create pressure on the government to accept their demand.