RAWALPINDI: Like other parts of the globe, International Mother Language Day was also observed here with an aim to promote the awareness of language, cultural diversity and multilingualism. In this regard, a conference was jointly organized by Punjab Arts Council and Pothohari Literary Society to mark the occasion.

The special guest of the conference was Chairman Pakistan academy of letters Prof. Dr. Yusuf Kushk. Naseem Sehar, Akhtar Raza Salimi, Naveed Malik, Rehman Hafeez, Ehsan Faisal, Rashid Abbasi, Chaudhry Muhammad Rafique participated in the conference as the guest of honor.

Farid Zahid, Chairman, Pothohari Literary Society, presided over the conference. The literary conference consisted of three parts, which included a literary session, the unveiling of new Pothohari books and a poetry recital.

While addressing the conference, Chairman Literary Academies of Pakistan, Prof. Dr. Yusuf Kushk said that mother tongue is the pride of nations. We should talk to each other in our mother tongues.

The mother tongue is an important means of transmitting the culture of any country to others. Every developed country in the world has flourished by adopting its mother tongue. Criticizing the young generation, Dr. Yusuf Kushk said that today’s Children find it difficult to speak in their mother tongue. We should emphasize on teaching local literature to the younger generation. Finally, they have appealed to the government to take more steps for the promotion of mother tongue.