Rice institute in a shambles: MarviBy

March 18, 2011

March, 17: PML-Q MNA Marvi Memon who visited the Rice Research Institute in Thatta on Thursday has expressed dismay over its deteriorating condition.

She said the institute was a glaring example of bureaucratic negligence, misuse of funds and lack of supervision like many other national institutions which were at the verge of collapse.

The institute, she said, was set up only two decades ago for development of new varities.

She vowed to raise the issue in the National Assembly and demand an inquiry.

Dozens of officials were receiving their regular salaries but they did not visit offices and fields, she said. When she visited the Veterinary Hospital and Poultry Development Research Office she did not find any official there.

Later, she visited the house of Muhammad Usman Memon, former president of Thatta Press Club, to offer condolence over the death of his mother-in-law. PROTEST RALLY:

Activists of Jeay Sindh Tahreek (JST), Awami Tahreek and Sindh United Party took out a joint procession on Thursday in protest against the killing of prisoners by police.

Protesters wearing black armbands and raising slogans marched through the main roads and staged a sit-in on the National Highway.

President Jeay Sindh Thareek Shafee Karnani, Anwer Karnani of SUP and Sahib Khan Khoso of Awami Tahreek said that the police operation in Hyderabad Central Jail was a violation of human rights. They appealed to the apex court to take notice of the incident and order a judicial inquiry.

Express Tribuune

Tackling economic challenges will put country on the right track: Memon
By Faryal Najeeb
Published: March 18, 2011

Legislator asks govt to switch to a productive job creation strategy.

KARACHI:
If challenges such as law and order, tax reforms, energy shortages, efficient governance and employment generation are tackled, the business climate will improve and take Pakistan in the right direction, according to MNA Marvi Memon.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Memon said that for this to happen, “the government needs to move from the ‘dole-out’ vote strategy to an intelligent ‘productive’ job-creating strategy before it is too late. The implementation of this strategy will raise hopes for millions of unemployed people.”

Memon was a participant in the recently concluded ‘3rd All Pakistan Chambers Presidents Conference’ held in Bhurban, organised by the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE). At the conference, the Bhurban Declaration was signed by 31 chambers of commerce and industry of the country.

“I had taken time out for this conference simply because I thought it was an efficient way to get to the collective wisdom of our investors. An understanding of what was hampering business growth would enable me to help shape better policy for my people,” she said, providing an insight as a parliamentarian in an otherwise purely business conference.

Interestingly, how the socio-political climate affects businesses was apparent in the declaration signed this time, as businessmen moved away from issues such as concerns over representation of the business community in the government and budget proposals to concentrate more on law and order, energy sector reforms, privatisation of state-owned enterprises, etcetera.

Furthermore, topics such as water sector reforms were discussed for the first time, while the government was asked to develop an SME policy for women entrepreneurs. The declaration also called for anti-corruption initiatives and firm cross-border policies.

CIPE Project Manager Hammad Siddiqui informed that this year the conference had been far more successful than previous years. He stated that CIPE has played a main role in facilitating the chambers in getting together and its aim was to advocate policies and consequently bring reforms in the economy.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18th, 2011.

The News

Article

Women power
Harris Khalique
Friday, March 18, 2011
Beginning with Pakistani Women’s Day observed on February 12 in our country, and International Women’s Day, celebrated across the world on March 8, a hundred years of women’s struggle for their rights are being celebrated. On this occasion, the women of Pakistan embarrass us as men and make us proud as a nation.

The restricted space of my column permits me to allude to only two things today although there are so many other achievements of our women that deserve both mention and praise.

First and foremost is the remarkable courage shown by our women parliamentarians when it came to condemning the assassinations of both Salmaan Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti.

Earlier, there were attempts by other legislators as well but the resolve shown by Sherry Rehman to bring amendments to discriminatory laws and controversial clauses of the Pakistan Penal Code in the face of religious fanaticism and the threat of physical elimination sets an example for many.

After Taseer’s life was taken, it was Marvi Memon who tabled a resolution to condemn the murder in the National Assembly. It was Nilofer Bakhtiar who said prayers in the Senate when men claiming to be progressive otherwise refused to stand up. These wounds were still unhealed when Shahbaz Bhatti was made the next target. Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Farah Naz Isphahani, Bushra Gohar, Nafeesa Shah, Nosheen Saeed and some of their other women colleagues in both the parliament and provincial legislatures were unequivocal in their condemnation of these murders. They made public appearances, wrote articles and took it upon themselves to represent sanity and forbearance in this society.

These women belong to different political parties and subscribe to dissimilar opinions when it comes to interpreting political realities. But their belief in a civilised and tolerant social order, a responsible state, and their understanding of the plight of both women and minorities in post-Zia Pakistan brought them together.

It is so unfortunate that these women are ridiculed by expedient friends and bigoted foes alike for having no direct constituencies of their own and for being elected on reserved seats and therefore taking a stance which could be unpopular in certain segments of the population. If we go by this argument, we should be reminded that all senators are indirectly elected and why shouldn’t we hold the same dismissive views about both Rehman Malik and Babar Awan who hold key ministries and enjoy incredible decision-making authority?

What our women in the assemblies and the Senate have stood for is no small achievement. They have demonstrated responsible behaviour that is expected of parliamentarians. Hats off to them.

The other silent revolution coming about in our lives is reflected in the achievements of female students. When we see fanatical men blowing up their schools in some parts of Pakistan, girls continue to lead in all our school and high school examination results.

Also, something little talked about is the sheer number of young women making it to higher education in Pakistan today. The large universities of Karachi, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Bahauddin Zakariya (Multan), Quaid-e-Azam (Islamabad) and Peshawar are dominated by female students. So are the medical colleges, law colleges, and architecture and engineering schools where women either constitute a majority or their numbers increase each year.

There was a demand voiced by conservative groups once that there should be separate universities and higher educational institutions for women in the country. They should be worried about men now. If not all, many of these bright women will be at the helm of affairs over the next couple of decades. A change is coming, silently.

The writer is an Islamabad-based poet, author and public policy advisor who works with progressive social movements.

Email: harris.khalique@gmail.com

Dawn
17 March 2011

Dykes` repair being done transparently:

Dr Ahmed Ali Shah, chairman of a committee of MPAs formed by the president to monitor the ongoing work for repairing the flood-ravaged embankments, has rejected reports about irregularities or use of substandard material in the repair work.

During a visit to the Tori bund on Wednesday, he said that the work was being done in a transparent manner.

He hoped the repair of Tori and Akil Agahi bunds would be completed by the end of May this year. Large breaches in Tori bund had already been filled but some relatively small breaches remained to be plugged, he said.

In the first phase, protective bunds will be levelled and raised with loose soil to at least 24 feet. Mr Shah said that work was being carried out in a manner to ensure that it could withstand the pressure of a future floods.

He said that no inexperienced contractor had been hired to carry out repair work, and a consultancy led by renowned expert Idris Rajput, former secretary of irrigation department, was looking after the work.

Mr Rajput himself monitored the breach sites, and; therefore, the question of any fault in the work or use of substandard material did not arise, he said.

He said that the protective bunds would be raised by 50 and 24 feet above the water level and would be paved with stone. Tori suffered more damage than the Akil Agahi bund, he said.

Meanwhile, members of the flood commission appointed by the Supreme Court visited the Kot Almo embankment and flood-affected areas on Wednesday and recorded statements of MNAs Marvi Memon and Ayaz Shah Shirazi, member of Sindh PPP council Aijaz Khwaja and a number of flood-affected people.

The commission comprises former chief secretary Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Azam Khan, former federal secretaries Khwaja Zaheer Ahmed and A.W. Kazi, former chief secretary of Balochistan Fateh Khan Khajak and additional registrar of Supreme Court.

Ms Marvi Memon, Syed Ayaz Shah Shirazi and Aijaz Khwaja have in their statements blamed inefficiency of the irrigation officials for the breaches.

Mr Khwaja said he had informed the party leadership that inefficiency of irrigation officials of Jati, Sujawal and Mirpur Bathoro was to blame for the damage.

He said the affected people were neither given ration nor Watan cards.

Press TV

Pakistan lawmaker questions Davis deal
Pakistani protesters burn a U. S. flag and effigy of the U. S. Senator John Kerry during a protest against a U. S consulate employee Raymond Davis in Multan, Pakistan, on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011.

Following a 2.34-million-dollar deal that saw the release of a CIA contractor, charged with double suicide, in Pakistan, a Pakistani lawmaker says there are a lot of dark spots in the deal.

“The Pakistani people feel betrayed by their government simply because the government could not protect the victims’ families. And it seems that they have been pressured into this deal,” Marvi Memon told Press TV’s U.S. Desk on Wednesday.

Raymond Davis, the double murder-accused CIA contractor, was released on Wednesday after the families of the two victims agreed to drop charges against him in exchange for financial compensation.

A lawyer for the families of the two Pakistani men killed by the American CIA contractor says the United States paid $2.34 million in “blood money” to secure the man’s release. AP

“There is an Islamic law which allows for these deals to happen except there is now an impression by [U.S.] Secretary of State [Hillary] Clinton as to who has paid this money? If the Americans haven’t paid this money then who has paid it?” Memon said.

“So there are many questions now around this subject and the mood has been very anti-American since the very begging of this dire crisis,” she added.

HIGHLIGHTS

“I, myself, led a protest sometime back over the speculations that at some point there would be immunity [granted to Davis] and problems which were being discussed,” the Pakistan Muslim League-Q lawmaker told Press TV’s U.S. Desk.

“The deal [comes after] the Pakistani government came under pressure and the people of Pakistan do not appreciate it,” she said.

“And there is no price for there should be no price [tag] on Pakistani blood.”

“There are a lot of questions about this deal and we in the parliament would be asking the government … because we want to truth to come out.”
Those questions include why the court has excused the spying charges that had been brought against [Davis].”

The News
March 7, 2011
Govt has failed to deliver: Marvi

By our correspondent

THATTA: The present government has failed to deliver good governance and solve problems of the people. PML-Q MNA Marvi Memon said this while talking to newsmen here on Sunday during her visit of village Charan Memon near Thatta, where she had come to see a girl Ramsha, aged 16, suffering from cardiac disease. She said that the government had also failed in repairing the breaches and embankments of the Indus River.

The News
MNAs stage walkout to condemn Bhatti’s killing
our correspondent
Friday, March 04, 2011
ISLAMABAD: In a rare gesture of solidarity with the minorities, the government and opposition staged a token walkout from the National Assembly on Thursday to register their protest on the assassination of the minister for minority affairs Shahbaz Bhatti.

JUI-F minority legislator Asiya Nasir was the first to announce the walkout of all minority members, which the PML-Q, MQM, JUI-F and PML-N members also joined. Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan announced that the PPP and its allied parties would also join the other members to protest the assassination.

After the token walkout of the entire House, a debate took place on the law and order situation with particular reference to the tragic assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti and there was a consensus that it was a security lapse and that the entire political leadership should stand up against terrorism and extremism.

In the middle of the debate, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announced a three-day official mourning for the late minister. The national flag will fly at half-mast tomorrow. The legislators termed the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti a conspiracy against Pakistan. They paid rich tributes to late Shahbaz Bhatti for his meritorious services for the country.

The members said that the Constitution gives equal rights to all citizens and urged the government to take effective measures for the protection of minorities. Asiya Nasir expressed disappointment over the indifferent attitude towards the killing of a federal minister belonging to minority, saying this would increase the sense of deprivation and insecurity among the minorities. She expressed her dismay over observing just two-minute silence on the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti.

Akram Masih Gill condemned the assassination and demanded a judicial inquiry into the tragic incident. He also appealed of the chief justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the incident. “The murder has tarnished the country’s image,” he added.

JUI-F’s Maulana Attaur Rehman, while condemning the assassination, said that Islam does not allow the killing of any innocent person. He said the time has come to foil the nefarious designs of anti-state elements by chalking out a joint strategy.

He pointed out that those who wanted to destabilise the country were involved in acts of terrorism and were killing innocent Pakistanis to create panic. He suggested setting up of a parliamentary commission to independently probe the matter. Eulogising the services of Shahbaz Bhatti, he said he was a man of character and his services would be remembered forever.

PML-Q’s chief whip Riaz Hussain Pirzada said that miscreants were out to tarnish the image of Islam and Pakistan by killing members of the minority community. He said that the political leadership should formulate a comprehensive policy to ensure protection of each and every citizen of the country. He suggested strengthening of the judicial system to ensure immediate justice to the masses.

ANP leader Bushra Gohar said the incident was a security and intelligence lapse. She supported the demand for judicial probe and said that safe havens of extremists in the Punjab and Fata should be destroyed.

Hamid Saeed Kazmi said the government of Pakistan People’s Party had started several welfare programmes for the minorities and to protect their rights but some extremist elements were unhappy to see such things. He was of the view that these elements were out to destabilise the country by giving the impression that no one was safe in Pakistan.

Marvi Memon urged the government to take stern action against those who claimed responsibility for killing Shahbaz Bhatti. Abdul Qadir Baloch said Shahbaz Bhatti was actively working for inter-faith harmony in the country and every Pakistani was grieved over his killing.

Dawn
March 2, 2011

Celebrating 100 years of struggle for women’s rights

By Jamal Shahid | From the NewspaperMarch 2, 2011 (3 weeks ago)

ISLAMABAD: The National Art Gallery witnessed a unique and dazzling artistic performance to celebrate the 100 years of International Women`s Day.

Renowned classical dancer Sheema Kirmani and her company’s repertoire of a small stage drama, followed by the classical dance and music was an instant hit with the audience that comprised people from all walks of life, young and old.

The performance was different from what the audience had probably experienced before – entertaining and enlightening. They particularly liked the story telling by well-known Urdu poet, writer and feminist Fehmida Riaz.

Floating across the stage with exquisite delicacy in an intricately embroidered dress on the composition ‘Raks Karo’, Sheema Kirmani seemed to embody the natural grace, as the half hour dance carried powerful messages of gender equality and a demand for change in attitudes. Photographers and TV cameramen struggled to catch outstretched hands and turned back fingers as she moved effortlessly.

Appreciating the performance were women parliamentarians, besides some foreign dignitaries and a hall packed with mostly younger people.

MNA Marvi Memon dedicated the performances and the day to a victim of Karo Kari, who, according to her, had been sitting on the footpaths of Islamabad fighting for justice. She vowed to work tirelessly to ensure rights for women.

Earlier another captivating Sheema performance told a story of woman accused of infertility who eventually takes control of her life after discovering the culprit behind her predicament – her fanatical husband.

The performances were followed by a documentary on `We Can` Campaign by Oxfam GB, highlighting efforts of volunteers trying to help oppressed women understand their rights.

Neva Khan, Oxfam GB country head, said: “We can end violence against women. We must and we will ensure that women fulfill their potential.

“The first step towards changing attitude is to pass the women’s bill sitting in the parliament since last five years.”

The Express Tribune
2 March 2011

100th Women’s Day: A wonderful performance but a predictable evening
By Momina Sibtain

ISLAMABAD: An evening of Kathak and theatrical performances by Sheema Kermani marked the end of the first day of the centenary celebrations of International Women’s Day.

The event was organised by “We Can” campaign and hosted at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts in Islamabad. The performance was in conclusion to a literary discourse on two critical documents analysing the state of women in Pakistan.

“Tonight is dedicated to Haleema Bhutto, a victim of karokari (honour killing) who met this fate due to a property dispute,” said Marvi Memon, chief guest at the event. “She has fought for justice and her strength is commendable and gives other women hope that ‘we can’ and will attain justice,” she added.

With Sardar Asseff Ali and other dignitaries in attendance, the auditorium was buzzing with enthusiasm and eagerness to witness the show on violence against women.

Sheema Kermani and her company performed various acts depicting the hardships that women go through in the villages and towns around the country.

The News
1 March 2011

MPs demand fuel price increase reversal

ISLAMABAD: The lawmakers in National Assembly Tuesday expressed concern about 10 per cent increase in petroleum products and Pakistanis stranded in Libya.

Taking up the issues of national importance on the Private Member’s Day they called upon the government to immediately withdraw the recent increase in petroleum products and take measures for safety of Pakistanis stranded in Libya and other Middle East countries and ensure their immediate return.

Marvi Memon also supported decrase in petroleum prices and called for cut on non-development expenditures of the government.

The Nation
26 February 2011

Marvi arrested with protesters

Police on Friday used force and teargas to disperse protesting Sindh Education Department contract employees, wounding dozens of the protesters and arresting scores while Pakistan Muslim League-Q MNA Marvi Memon offered arrest to express solidarity with the protesters, reported a private TV channel.
The contract employees marched from Karachi Press Club to the Chief Minister’s House to press for their demand of regularisation.
Police tortured the protesting employees, injuring many of them and detaining them including Marvi Memon.
She also strongly condemned the police torture of protesters and slammed the government for its failure to settle the issue of regularisation.

Dawn
26 February 2011

MNA Marvi Memon ‘arrested’
By Our Staff Reporter |

Member National Assembly Marvi Memon was detained by police along with about 12 activists of the All Sindh Education Lower Staff Association who, according to police, were trying to stage a sit-in outside the Chief Minister`s House at around Friday midnight.
Police lobbed tear gas shells at the protesters to stop them from proceeding to the CM House.

Some protesters led by Ms Memon reached the CM House and staged a brief sit-in before they were detained.

SP Irshad Seher told Dawn that the MNA herself decided to board a police mobile.

“We have sent her to the Women Police Station. However, she has not been arrested and is free to go, but if she wants to remain at the police station we have no objection,” SP Seher said.

Earlier in the day, the protesters were baton-charged and water cannons were used to stop them from going to the Sindh Assembly.

The Nation

People protesting as govt failed to deliver: Marvi
Published: February 24, 2011

LAHORE – PML-Q MNA Marvi Memon is scheduled to present in the National Assembly on Thursday a list of cases where the government functionaries had failed to implement the court orders and faced contempt proceedings. Talking to reporters here on Wednesday, she said failure of the government to implement the court orders was a serious issue and must be debated in parliament at length.
She said she had raised many issues of public interest from the platform of the parliament and would continue to do so in the future, no matter what the conduct of those regulating the proceedings. In case the government did not heed, people would be left with no option but to come on the streets.
A rising star of the PML-Q, Marvi urged the people to get united for their rights. She said instead of holding demonstrations in small groups – which bring no results – they should organize bigger shows to mount pressure on the government to come to terms. She said she would stand by the people in their struggle for their rights.
She clarified that the purpose of her campaign for people’s rights was not to derail the system, but to “fix democracy” and make the system deliver. The legislator from Karachi said the PML-Q was trying to play an effective role in parliament and let the electorate know that the party was doing its best to expose the government’s corrupt practices and mount pressure on it to honour the commitments it had made to people.
She said while she herself had raised the issue of floods situation and the Air Blue tragedy, fellow MNA Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat had taken up the issue of Rental Power Stations, which allegedly involved kickbacks of billions. The PML-Q parliamentarian said people belonging to various walks of life were protesting to have their demands met as parliament had failed to discharge its duties.
She said people elected their representatives to have their problems solved, and since the legislators had failed to come up to the expectations of the electorate, protests and sit-ins had become order of the day. Decisions taken by parliament, she said, were not being implemented by the executive, as a result of which unrest was going up. She warned that the country could face Egypt-like situation in case the government failed to address people’s problems.
She regretted that the government was wasting public money for ostentation, but always talked of paucity of funds when people wanted their problems solved. Giving details of the protests held in the recent past, she said on Feb 21, daily wagers of the Port Qasim Authority staged a sit-in outside Port Qasim Authority to demand job security. On Feb 20, the lower staff of the Education Department held a sit-in for their regularization. Though the Sindh government had promised that it would do so, it did not. She alleged that the government functionaries might sell these jobs to make money.

On Feb 19, government’s decision to entertain the demands of paramedics, following a 17-day protest, has given some hope to 53 recently terminated nurses of Polyclinic Hospital. To protest the illegal termination of their jobs and make a plea for regularisation, they staged a sit-in in front of the Parliament.
On Feb 19, hundreds of residents of localities of Gilgit town blocked the main road to condemn suspension of water supply for past two weeks and prolonged loadshedding. The protesters also staged a sit-in and burnt tyres while chanting slogans against the water and power department and the water and sanitation agency.
On Feb 15: activists of the Pakistan fisher folk forum held a march in protest against the cutting of mangroves forests for commercial purposes
On Feb 14: parts of Lyari turned into battlefields when armed men from two rival groups compelled the area residents to stay indoors during their hours-long exchange of fire that killed a youngster and wounded more than half a dozen people. On Feb 11: employees PIA called off a four-day strike and sit-in that crippled air travel in the country after the resignation of the top company official. She gave several other examples.
Marvi Memon also cited incidents in which the government was liable to be proceeded on contempt charges. She said: On Feb 22, the SHC ordered the Sindh chief secretary and the education secretary to appear in court on March 2 in a contempt of court plea filed by Prof Yasin. The applicant maintained that despite court orders, the promotion was denied to him and he is still serving as a BPS-19 officer while his juniors have been given a promotion “on a political basis”.
22 Jan: IHC issued contempt of court notices to top official of capital administration, upholding the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench’s verdict on appointments in the revenue department.
14 Jan: PHC issued contempt notice to government for not paying compensation amount to terror hit- family and for not evolving proper mechanism.
3 Jan: Despite repeated caveats given by the court of law, the Islamabad police authorities are avoiding to distribute the decided share of fine-money among the Islamabad Traffic Police personnel. Interior Ministry summoned in contempt of court.
8 Dec 2010: SC charged DG Concessions of Petroleum Ministry Sher Muhammed Khan with contempt of court in a case regarding the sale of British Petroleum shares.
30 Nov: SHC issued a contempt of court notice to the chairman of the FBR, the FBR secretary (management) and the additional director of Internal Audit, Karachi. The applicant stated that the he was being transferred from the Directorate of Internal Audit to the Directorate of Withholding Taxes against the court orders.
27 Nov: Key bureaucrats in the Sindh government, who had played a direct or indirect role in the allotment of state lands worth billions of rupees, including a case that involved violation of the SC decision, were rewarded with promotions and better postings by the provincial administration despite some of them being issued contempt of court notices by the apex court.
14 Oct: President Zardari and the government committed yet another contempt of court for appointing an NRO beneficiary, Adnan Khawa, as chairman OGDCL when the secretary establishment said that he was appointed on the verbal order of the prime minister.
27 Sept: A Contempt of Court petition was filed against former federal minister Abdul Qayyum Jatoi in the Supreme Court’s Lahore registry. The petitioner requested the apex court to declare Mr Jatoi ineligible for holding the position of MNA. The petition was filed because of Mr Jatoi’s remarks against Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and the Pakistan Army.
25 Sept: An anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of five men in the case of assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto issued contempt of court notices for not submitting complete investigation report.
21 Sept: The Supreme Court withdrew a contempt of court notice against National Bank’s chief Syed Ali Raza, but asked him to pay in six weeks provident fund dues to 17,221 retired employees with interest at the highest available rates till the time they were in the service of the bank.
21 Sept: A full bench of the LHC taking notice of non-appearance of federal and provincial law officers in President Asif Ali Zardari’s dual office case summoned the federal law secretary on Oct 4. Advocate AK Dogar on behalf of Pakistan Lawyers Forum, the petitioner, said that non-appearance of respondent’s counsel amounted to an act of contempt of court on their part and also that they had nothing to plead in defence.
She gave several other examples to substantiate her point.

The Express Tribune

Mother tongue: Shina group endorses language bill
By Shabbir Mir
Published: February 22, 2011

GILGIT: The Shina Language and Culture Promotion Society (SLCPS) have endorsed a bill tabled in parliament to expand the number of national languages and have asked the Gilgit-Baltistan government to help ensure its passage in the national legislature.

“Everybody should lobby and support the bill to see it through,” said Ishtiaq Yaad, general secretary of the SLCPS, urging Gilgit Baltistan legislators to actively play a role in the bill’s passage.

The private bill, moved in the National Assembly by Marvi Memon of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), calls for the government to expand the number of languages it recognises as “national languages” from just Urdu to eight languages. The seven additional languages represent major languages spoken across the country: Balochi, Punjabi, Pushto, Shina, Balti, Sindhi and Seraiki.

Yaad spoke of the need to recognise the native languages of most Pakistanis, especially on International Mother Tongue Day, which was observed world-wide on February 21 (Monday) as a United Nations-recognised celebration of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.