FM lays emphasis on promoting Pakistani languages at university

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 18

The Department of Defence and National Security Studies (DDNSS) of Panjab University organised a seminar on ‘Religious Diplomacy of Pakistan: Mirage or Reality?’here today.

Manpreet Singh Badal, Minister, Finance and Planning, Punjab, while addressing the audience, said it was a healthy sign that initiatives such as Kartarpur Corridor were being discussed by the academia. He said communal riots which happened at the time of partition became the genesis of the hatred between India and Pakistan. “Unless both nations settle the issue, the hostility shall remain,” he added.

Giving the example of Pakistan, Badal explained that no one had foreseen, 70 years ago, that Pakistan would become a failed state. He laid emphasis on the need for promoting learning of Pakistani languages, so that we are able to understand them better. He announced that Punjab Government would be happy to fund the establishment of a languages department in Panjab University, which focuses on Pakistani languages such as Punjabi (Shahmukhi Script).

He also focused on the need for preserving national institutions such as the Supreme Court, Election Commission and Reserve Bank of India.

Prof Raj Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University, said Pakistan had always been an unpredictable country. He gave the example of Israel and shared how it has achieved great feats in varied domains from defence to agriculture. He said Rs 2-crore grant to the department would boost various academic initiatives.

Lt Gen KJ Singh, State Information Commissioner, Haryana, explained how Pakistan has “strayed away from the Indian subcontinent’s Sufi form of Islam and gone into the radical Wahabi form of Islam.”