Daily Times

                                               The selfie craze stuck the protest as well.

On a loud, sunny and busy February morning – I joined dozens of activists outside the Lahore Press Club for a remarkable protest. The International Mother Language Day is celebrated on the 22nd of February. This year I attended the annual protest held by Punjabi activists, writers, and poets to make Punjabi compulsory at the school level.

                                        The protesters outside the Punjab Assembly.

A large truck had members of the Pakistan Punjabi Adabi board and a loudspeaker to guide and speak to the protesters. There were banners, jeeps, dholwallas, children, and women dressed in fancy clothes. There was loud Punjabi music on the stereo to further entertain the crowd.

                        These children had no idea that we are working to increase their homework.

Children in Punjab, unlike other parts of the country, start with Urdu and English. They never really study Punjabi formally. Now the language is losing readers and writers, and the speakers are losing their language. Implementing Punjabi as a compulsory language in schools will not just enable speakers to read and write their own language but also become consumers of the literature produced in it. Thus this step will help the publishing industry as well. Furthermore, many more jobs will be created for Punjabi degree holders to fill the new positions in thousands of schools and colleges across Punjab. Punjabi should also be made one of the official languages in Punjab. This will again serve as an incentive for studying Punjabi. Right now, Punjabi is just a colloquial language used for abuse and casual banter on the streets which is chucked out the moment we enter formal education and job search.

                               What is a protest for Punjabi without the thaap of the dhol?

The procession had many youngsters and children. They created a raucous and when the dhol started playing, the crowd became ecstatic. There was a lot of dancing, chanting of slogans and waving of placards. The procession stopped at the Charing Cross on Mall Road.

                  Punjabi activist Akram Varraich and poet Mazhar Tirmazi responded to the dhol.

They disembarked from the truck and some speakers took over the loudspeaker to express their demand of implementing Punjabi as an official language in government schools. Hopefully, the largest province in Pakistan, with the most government resources at hand, will make efforts to save Punjabi from extinction.

                                                                The speakers on the truck.

Photos by Author. The writer is based in Lahore, tweets as @ammarawrites and her complete works can be found on www.ammaraahmad.com

Published in Daily Times, July 1^st 2018.