LAHORE, Feb 21: Punjabi should be a compulsory subject in primary schools.

This was stated by representatives of several bodies working on Punjabi at a ‘Meet-the-Press’ at the Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture in connection with ‘Mother Languages Day’ on Tuesday.

An exhibition of paintings — ‘Colours of Punjab’ — by seven artists was also part of the event.

Chief guest Senator Pervaiz Rasheed lashed out at certain people’s approach towards the Punjabi language who “generally speak Urdu at home with their children and Punjabi with their servants” and that “this is how they view their mother tongue”.

He stressed the need for changing people’s attitude toward Punjabi as the government alone could not elevate the status of a language in society.

Mr Rasheed said that under the 18th Amendment, provinces had the right to set their syllabi giving their mother languages a priority.

PILAC Director General Dr Arshad Mahmood said PILAC was focusing on publishing books and supporting research in literature. He said PILAC would also hold art exhibitions regularly.

“Our library has some 10,000 to 12,000 books which are quite helpful for researchers,” he added.

Earlier an exhibition of paintings by artists Dr Ajaz Anwar, Khalid Iqbal, Ghulam Mustafa, Shafique Ahmed, Dr Mussarat Hasan, Mahmood Ali and Wajid Yaqoot was inaugurated by Senator Rasheed at PILAC Art Gallery.

(Dawn News)