Speakers demand national status for Sindhi language

The seminar was held to discuss how literature can help root out extremism.

HYDERABAD:

At a seminar held to discuss how literature can help curb extremism, speakers reiterated the demand to accord national status to the Sindhi language and enforce the law on teaching it as a compulsory subject in schools.

The seminar was titled 'Can Extremism be Brought to an End with Literature?' and was organised by the Mirza Kaleech Baig chair of the Sindh University (SU) on Wednesday.  SU acting vice-chancellor Dr Imdad Ismaili said that those nations who denounce their mother tongues do not progress.

The speakers also addressed issues such as honour killings, wedding with the Quran and underage marriages. Another speaker, Mumtaz Ali Rind, said that forced marriages and child marriages were a curse in Sindhi culture which is also a form of extremism.

Abbas Korejo said that those people who want to impose their ideology forcibly are extremists. He added that Sindh needed a scientific society instead of 'mere Sufism' because it could only develop and progress with modern education and literature.

Marvi Shaikh said that the English language was imposed on the Indian subcontinent in a bid to control the minds of the people so that they lead their lives in constant slavery. She said that the language policy was introduced in 1835 by the British and needs to be changed now. "We have to get our basic education in Sindhi language and we demand of the government that Sindhi language be given the status of a national language," she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2014.