ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) has published a comprehensive book to shed light on the literature of Balochistan ahead of Diamond Jubilee Independence celebrations. ‘Literature on Balochistan’ covered all the literary, critical and development aspects of the major languages of Balochistan including Balochi, Brahvi and Pashto, PAL chairman Dr Yousuf Khushk said on Monday. Talking to APP, he said a number of languages were spoken in the province of Balochistan, but ironically the regional languages faced extinction due to insufficient publication of the literary work. He said the purpose of the book was to provide the complete genesis of the vernacular languages and to highlight the work of the regional writers that would help preserve the literature of the province. “The book also includes essays on the development of Hazaragi and Persian languages, which depict that they are not only alive, but literary work has also been carried out in these languages”, he added. Lauding the efforts of the people who compiled the book, he said that ‘Literature of Balochistan’ was not less than any gift for its readers and credit went to editor in chief Asim Butt and organiser Akhtar Raza Saleemi who left no stone unturned to make this book interesting and literary.