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DECLARATION
WARIS SHAH INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE
LAHORE, 2005
We, the
Punjabi poets, writers and intellectuals, ratify the decisions and
declarations of the previous 12 International. Punjabi
Conferences, and pronounce our allegiance with they rights of the
Punjabi language, with peace, with independence and with the
message of love for all.
More than 300
of us, from Pakistan, India and the rest of the world, gathered in
Lahore from July 22 to 24 for the Waris Shah International
Conference.
Despite
continuous demands of the workers of the Punjabi movement and the
government's assurances, no formal announcement has been made to
make Punjabi language the medium of education up to primary level.
The delay is testing the limits of our patience.
We
demand that the Punjabi language, which is symbol of knowledge and
civilization, which is the language of great poets, particularly
Waris Shah, should be declared the medium of education, so that
the children of Punjab should also get education in their mother
tongue, which is their basic right like the children of the rest
of the world.
We also demand
that the 10 thousand unemployed masters in Punjabi should be given
jobs in those education institutions where there are no teachers
for the Punjabi language.
We
demand that on the lines of Patiala Punjabi University, a public
university should be set up in Lahore.
We
also vow to enhance our efforts to set up a private Punjabi
university, and: to lay its foundation by March 28 – 30, 2006 at
Shah Hussain Conference we will make every effort to pool the
required resources.
We demand that besides making Punjabi language the medium of
education, a principle decision should -be made -to adopt the
Punjabi in phases, at the provincial level, as the language of
commerce, administration and ultimately the official language.
On the
occasion of the International Waris Shah Conference, accepting
love, peace and freedom as basic human rights, we regret that our
centuries-old literary values, including those of Waris Shah, are
facing extinction. We demand practical measures for their
protection and promotion.
We,
the representatives of Punjabi language, literature and culture,
adore the beauty of land behind words, a breathing body, and a
life on the move. We experience the lively fragrance of the land
and the humanity in Heer Waris Shah, which permeates our past and
present. We want the modern. Punjabi literature to thrive in the
fragrance of Waris Shah.
Waris
Shah and the classical poets of Punjabi knew that the deep wounds
of dispossession of knowledge come from poverty and political
shortsightedness. They knew that literary creation is not
effortless, as the society suffers from exigencies and
deprivations. But the people like Waris are not born among. those
who are fed up with words. Today we have to bring the Punjabi
literature out of the wasteland of word weariness.
We
understand that all the poets, including Waris Shah, did not opt
for isolation, and they never conceived humanity apart from the.
life. They never treaded the path of egocentric isolation' and
wealth. Waris Shah's work is .full of life.. He has. command over
describing the play and laughter with children, the fullest pain
of wounds, the breathing of the beloved, and giving the pain of
humans the gift of words.
We
know ,that if Heer was the name of Jhang Sials' daughter, she was
also embodiment of love and freedom. The verses of Waris Shah took
Heer from beloved to a monument of love.
We
declare that the poetry of Waris Shah and other classical Punjabi
poets was an expression of commitment and resistance. Once the
poet is through the ordeals' of inhibition and suppression, he
cannot accept the fact that the life of a dispossessed farmer,
which the rulers term as reasonable, should remain as it is.
From
the perspective of Heer Waris Shah; we understand that the crowd
of vagabond urchins on roads would follow writers and poets; the
urchins who have been deprived of their childhood and who, without
honour and freedom, hate the Heer-Ranjha legend, and burn the
society in the fire of violence and terrorism.
We,
the writers and the intellectuals, feel that the crowd of urchins,
through silence and suppression, appeals to the writer and poet of
his times not to make it happy but to listen to the urchins. If
the poet and writer would not listen to the voices of anger, who
would? The writer and the poet would have to give words to the
anger, even if the crowd, which is screaming to be heard, does not
read them.
We
think that Waris Shah was not only the poet of resistance; he was
also in the forefront in the struggle for peace and freedom. The
wounds of Ahmed Shah Abdali's attacks on Punjab in the 18th
century were fresh when Waris Shah was born. The destruction of
brought by the Abdali's army was still in the air when Waris Shah
started writing. Therefore, his verses present the devastation
scene. The killings in Punjab were gruesome. It was difficult to
pass through many towns as corpses littered streets.
We
know that in the immortal tale of love, Waris Shah's picture of
demolitiod in Punjab and his cry for peace is still our call for
peace. His portrayal of social ruin, political unrest and economic
devastation should be part off the modem Punjabi literature. The
values of love, freedom, justice, equality, and tolerance should b
n integral part of our literature.
We
think that all the poets, including Waris Shah, were bound by
allegiance to the people. They openly declared partiality and
commitment towards the .people. They were away from the palaces
and nearer to the people. Such commitment should convey the
outcome of our literature.
We
conclude that that Waris Shah and other poets communicated with
the people in the Punjabi language. But today the language is
deprived of its rights. Through this conference, we again demand
that the Punjabi language should be the medium of education, and
it should be adopted in a phased manner, at provincial level, as
the language of commerce, administration and ultimately the
official language. |
