University Of Sargodha To Establish ICPS

The University of Sargodha (UoS) will establish International Centre for Punjab Studies (ICPS) for highlighting history, identity, tradition and civilization of the Punjab region

SARGODHA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Apr, 2019 ) :The University of Sargodha (UoS) will establish International Centre for Punjab Studies (ICPS) for highlighting history, identity, tradition and civilization of the Punjab region.

UoS Vice Chancellor Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad announced its name after consultation with Dr Pritam Singh and the other eminent national and international literati, scholar, and writers.

The decision to this effect was taken in the light of a declaration announced during a two-day international conference titled 'Punjab: History, Literature and Civilization' to preserve and promote rich culture of Punjab.

The conference was organized by the Department of urdu and Oriental Languages, UoS was aimed to highlight the importance of Punjabi language, question of Punjabi identity, politics and the Partition.

The international and national speakers of the conference called for including Punjabi in early education curriculum. "Our youth is unaware of the importance of Punjabi identity as the subject's popularity is slowly vanishing and being plundered due to lack of awareness and the invasion of English culture," they said.

Addressing the conference a professor at the Oxford school of Global and Area Studies, University of Oxford, UK Dr Pritam Singh said that cultural diversity of Punjab was in danger just like the biodiversity of the world due to climate change and global warming, over-exploitation of natural resources and environmental degradation.

Both are needed to be tackled by the joint urgency efforts, he added.

Dr Pritam Singh presented a comprehensive analysis of Punjab while exploring various aspects such as language, culture, heritage and the changes it went through in various periods.

Discussing 'Socio-economic and cultural transformation of Punjab: Colonial and post-colonial phases', he said that political economy of nationalism in the post-colonial governance of Pakistan and India presented a new macro-economic environment in contrast with the colonial era in shaping of the economies of the two Punjabs.

In his keynote address, a renowned Punjabi fiction writer Nain Sukh, said that available history of Punjab was not true as it was written by the rulers, colonizers, just 'Fatah Namas' which cannot be considered genuine sources of history.

He contended that folk literature is based on pure feelings, experiences and reactions; moreover, because it was not written by a specific person, it is a collective voice of the people.

Associate professor of LCWU Lahore Dr Mujahida Butt shared her thoughts on 'Punjabi Classicy Qissa Jati Adab Wich Aurat'.

She founded that Punjabi classical poets were the followers of feminisms and personally feminist all women characters of classical poetry were created by men, supported by men and the writers of all classical qissa's were men too.