LAHORE, Jan 1,: Punjabi Language Movement convener Nazeer Kahut has demanded that
the government introduce the Punjabi Language Act in the Punjab Assembly.
He sought the Punjabi language to be declared the sole official and judicial language of
Punjab. The PLM is a newly-built organisation pledging to work for the promotion of the
language and culture.
Speaking at the Lahore Press Club on Friday, he also demanded that Punjabi be adopted
as the official language of the house by the Punjab Assembly, senior Punjabi writers and
intellectuals appointed members of the boards of directors of the Punjab Institute of
Language, Art and Culture, the Punjab University, the Punjabi Language Authority and
the Punjabi Academy of Letters.
That Nadra must start issuing the national identity cards in Punjabi, 10 per cent of Punjab’s
GDP be allocated for the development of the Punjabi language education and culture, the
PTV and Radio Pakistan must launch Punjabi FM stations and BBC launch its Punjabi service,
were other demands.
Mr Kahut stressed that Punjab’s educational institutions be provided with the required
Punjabi teaching staff. He said the PLM rejected the division of Punjab at any cost. He further
demanded that areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that includes Dera Ismail Khan, Tank and
Hazara be merged with Punjab.
A national cultural day be celebrated, the name of the federal capital Islamabad be changed
to New Taxila and the Indus Valley culture be declared the national culture of Pakistan, he
demanded.
He said the very existence of the Punjabi language, the mother-tongue of more than 100
million people of Punjab, was threatened. He announced that on first of Waisakhi each year
“Punjabi Pagdi and Chunni Cultural Day” would be celebrated and the PLM had declared
2011 the year of the Punjabi language.
