Punjabi writer and poet Surjit Pattar dwells on importance of mother tongue

Tribune News Service

Patiala, May 2

Famous Punjabi writer and poet Surjit Pattar discussed the ill-effects of forcing languages other than the mother tongue on children during the 60th foundation day of Punjabi University here recently. Pattar said children developed creative interests when they were associated with their mother tongue.

The writer, while discussing technologies and work of translation and transliteration among languages being produced by the university, said, “Children develop creative interests when they are associated with their mother tongue, but we are depriving them of their independence by forcing them to speak English. From a psychological point of view, doing this is a crime.”

He said the advancement in technology was making machine translation and transliteration efficient. “With this we can translate a text from one language to another instantly. In such a scenario, the good news for all regional languages is that the English language can lose its status of being the only connecting language”, he said.

University Vice-Chancellor Prof Arvind said the varsity’s main focus was to generate and disseminate knowledge. “The university is constantly working to make the Punjabi language up-to-date with the time. We have established a Centre for Restoration of Ecosystem of Punjab and a Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship and Skill Training in the recent past”, he said.

The university facilitated Prof Tarlok Singh Anand and Punjabi lexicographer Rattan Singh Jaggi on the occasion.

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