Commemorated in the wake of the Bangladeshi students who lost their lives fighting for multilingualism in 1985, February 21 is observed as a worldwide day for awareness on lingual-cultural diversity. Even after the tragedy, Pakistan is still under threat of yet another partition due to oversights of cultural diversity.
While pointing out this issue, Balochistan Senator Suriya Amiruddin commented, “Balochistan was a peaceful place. But with the death of Nawab Akbar Bugti, differences emerged and now Balochis have abandoned and have spite for their Pakistani identity.” She was speaking at the launch of the translation of Fauzia Aziz Minallah’s book ‘Sadako’s Prayer’ in Torwali language spoken in Kohistan and Swat district and Pashto.
Noted poet and writer Kishwar Naheed pointed out that when a child is first educated in a language other than their mother tongue, they find it very hard to learn and fully understand the curriculum, resulting in an inferior complexity both about their mother tongue and their mental abilities. For instance, many native Punjabi speakers only engage in Urdu communication due to the baseless stereotype of Punjabi being ‘unsophisticated.’
Authored and illustrated by Minallah, the book was published by the Asian Network of Trust in Hiroshima, in Japanese, English, Dari, Urdu, Pashto, Torwali. It also won Hiroshima citizen’s Award for Peace Education. This importance of respect and promotion of Pakistan’s diverse culture and languages was stressed by Abasin Yousafzai, a Pashto translator, Mujahid Torwali, Torwali translator, alongside supporters dedicated to this cause. The book narrates the story of an 11-year-old Japanese girl named Sadako, who survived the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. In the true story, Sadako makes a fine symbol of hope for children traumatised by conflict or environmental disasters.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 22nd, 2012.
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we are always with u..
wish you good luck !