Wagah, February 2
The west Punjab Government of Pakistan has decided to introduce Punjabi language course from primary school level.
Stating this here today, Punjabi writer Dr Mahip Singh, who was part of the delegation which returned after attending the ninth World Punjabi Conference at Lahore, said the Chief Minister of western Punjab, Mr Parvez Elahi, had assured the delegates that his government would provide more than 10,000 jobs to postgraduates in Punjabi language for the purpose of teaching the language in schools, colleges and universities.
Mr Pervej Elahi said his government would promote both Persian and Gurmukhi scripts at various levels and also start research to incorporate new
vocabulary, as the Punjabi language had not developed in Pakistan as it had in India.
He disclosed that debates in the Punjab assembly could now be conducted in Punjabi, as earlier only debates in Urdu were allowed. He said Lahore would soon have its own Punjabi newspaper.
Another significant development during the conference was that all delegates unanimously condemned the acts of barbarism and killing of innocent people during the Partition turmoil. This was mentioned by Dr Harbhajan Singh Bhatia, Senior Professor Department of Punjabi, Guru Nanak Dev University, who also attended the conference.
