Gandhara Hindko Board to hold cultural, literary conferences next year

To initiate extensive research project by recording accounts of elderly citizens.

Literary, cultural and social welfare organisation Gandhara Hindko Board has chalked out a plan to hold a series of Hindko and Seraiki literary and cultural conferences next year, along with launching an extensive cultural research project.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the executive committee of the board in Peshawar, according to an official notification issued on Tuesday. The chairman of the board and former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) chief secretary Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi presided over the meeting. Others present at the gathering included Ziauddin Siddiqui, Dr Adnan Gul, Dr Salahuddin, Khwaja Yawer Naseer, Muhammad Jan Aatif, Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, Sadia Ambreen, Ahmad Nadeem Awan and Saeed Paras.

The participants were asked to put forward suggestions for carrying out literary and cultural activities in 2014. In response to the proposals, it was decided that a Seraiki and Hindko conference will be arranged in February in DI Khan. The moot will be attended by the Seraiki literati from the region, apart from Hindko writers from other parts of K-P where the language is spoken.



Furthermore, a Hindko literary and cultural conference will be organised in Abbottabad in April 2014, to be followed by another such event in Kohat in May. Peshawar will host the Third Hindko Aalmi Conference in November which will also be attended by writers and poets from abroad.

Earlier, Gandhara Hindko Board General Secretary Muhammad Ziauddin Siddiqui gave an overview of the activities conducted by the organisation so far. He said the board has published 50 Hindko books on various genres, while another 30 publications are in the pipeline. Some of their regular publications include The Gandhara Voice, Hindkowan, Sarkhail and children’s magazine Taarey.

Siddiqui said the board will also launch a cultural research project to gather information on the tangible and intangible Hindko cultural heritage of Peshawar.

A team of young cultural activists will interact with elderly people residing in the walled city of Peshawar and gather audio recordings of their personal accounts. These recordings will then be transcribed and published in book form. In the second stage, the project will be extended to other cities of K-P where Hindko is spoken, including Nowshera, Kohat, Abbottabad, Haripur and Mansehra, along with parts of Swabi and Battagram districts.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2013.