The Federal Minister for Environment Hameedullah Jan Afridi has said that education and research could play vital role for uplifting of nations and the universities are hub of the academic activities to generate and to spread new knowledge for the benefit of the country.
He was inaugurating 4-day Second Shaikh Ayaz International Conference on Language and Literature on Friday organised by Faculty of Arts, University of Sindh in collaboration with Higher Education Commission (HEC). The minister said that education is fundamental for development and it is also essential in achievements of development target in the society. He said that President Asif Ali Zardari could not spare time for this conference because of his busy schedule therefore he honoured me to join you in the Second Shaikh Ayaz International Conference on Language and Literature.
He said that it is encouraging to know that the University of Sindh is catering to the needs of people of diverse communities without any discrimination of caste, creed, gender and colour. He said that the University of Sindh has a glorious past of holding conferences, lectures, and seminars. This conference is, however, first of its kind in which 170 scholars, from various parts of the world, have contributed their articles and suggested that universities of Pakistan in general and the University of Sindh in particular are investing their efforts for creating research environment which will help open new vistas of knowledge.
The minister said that today's event in particular is a glaring example of intellectual activity aimed at disseminating knowledge among stakeholders. He said that the universities are meant for opening new vistas of knowledge, which can only be achieved by creating research environment on the campus. Today's event is a glaring example of moving towards that end.
This conference speaks volumes of arduous diligence and hard work on part of the leadership of the University of Sindh who has tried to bring this alma mater at par with the United Nations' proclamation of 2008 as year of languages in which the United Nations is attempting to help promote the ignored, and dying languages and added that the conference has addressed this issue to some extent as articles on various indigenous languages such as Pushto, Hidko, Pahari, Balochi and Sindhi language are being presented in this conference. He said that conference is aimed at eulogising the services of legendary and revolutionary poet Shaikh Ayaz, the poet at par excellence of modern Sindh.
Shaikh Ayaz rendered his invaluable services in the field of poetry and education. By bent of mind, he was a poet and by profession an advocate. It is immense pleasure to see that University of Sindh, Jamshoro is playing a vital role in encouraging young and senior scholars to generate and disseminate knowledge which is a much desired phenomenon in today's competing world and added that this conference will no doubt leave behind a wealth of information for the posterity to witness. He announced that government of Pakistan is celebrating 2009 year as Year of Environment to create awareness among the masses.
He said that the declaration of year 2009 as environment year aiming to invite attention of international community that we are also in front to work for betterment of the environment. The Vice Chancellor University of Sindh Mazharul Haq Siddiqui who presided over the occasion said that United Nations is of the concept to recognise diversity of nations for unity or oneness.
He said that it is conceptual resolve to be together for peace among the diverse nations of the world so that their people may progress and prosper, be happy and enjoy freedom with assurance of sovereign equally, dignity of man and woman and human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human rights of the United Nations of which the authentic, oldest and original source is the sermon of our Holy Prophet (PBUH) delivered on the occasion of the last and farewell pilgrimage. He said that concept of the two documents is that mankind is one with diverse manifestation in peoples, nations, colours of their skins and languages with purpose of peace, progress, pursuit of happiness and freedom with mutual tolerance.
He said it is achievements that despite of pressures of the powerful nations and their financial institutions the United Nations has declared 2008 as the International Year of Languages. He said that many languages are threatened extinction under invasive rampage of globalisation. He said that it is also a wakeup call to most of the languages to grid up their lions and be active not only to make their voice audible at different intellectual and scholarly forums, but also display their creativity by ample publication of their literature in verse and prose depicting their thought, tender emotions and sublime sentiments and added that cultural diversity is adding beauty to great mosaic of mankind with ink, paint and music and that human identity is by coherent, logical, musical, lyrical and emotional expression, aimed at human glorification. He said that regional languages in South Asia are threatened extinction as economic compulsion and race for materialistic aggrandisement entail diminishing usage of regional languages.
He said that University of Sindh is known for nurturing freedom of expression and practising critical thinking with high threshold for intellectual and religious tolerance. He also paid rich tribute to Shaikh Ayaz and said that he was one of the former vice chancellor, a celebrated poet par excellence. He said that poetry of Ayaz left deep impact on society and is being so well sung by an applauding posterity through his poetry and so well wept for his departure to eternity leaving a great vacuum. He also welcomed the scholars, intellectuals, educationists from India, USA and universities of Pakistan.
In his keynote speech on Comparative Literature in Multilingual Societies: A Tool to Promote Unity in Diversity and Global Understanding Professor Dr Chandra Mohan from India said that bilingual and multilingual situations that essentially prevail in India, Pakistan and other countries of Asia, in the entire Europe, North and South America seems to be strong fountainheads which help provide an inclination for undertaking formal and non formal studies in comparative literary areas.
He said that comparative literature is considered strongly by the literary historians as an offspring and an intimate expression of composite socio-cultural unit, reflecting the impact of diverse ages, races, religions and influences and maintaining simultaneously, sometimes in harmony, sometimes in disharmony, different levels of cultural consciousness and intellectual development.
As such, the recent linguistic scene in most of the countries witnesses a spurt in comparative linguistics, due to the polyglot character of an average literate person, he said.
He said that it is reasonably claimed by the comparatists that in most cases the very structure and framework of language and literature is comparative and their texts and contexts operate the same way and added that everywhere there is a connection, everywhere there is an illustration: no single event, no single literature is adequately comprehended except in its relation to other events, to other literatures.
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