Adil Najam
Bahauddin Zakariya Univeristy (BZU) in Multan is going to begin full-fledged MA Seraiki classes. This is good news. Seraiki is an ancient language with a prestigious intellectual history and a rich literature, especially poetry. As with most regional languages in Pakistan, we have not done full justice in nourishing this heritage.
There is also much resentment in the greater Seraik-speaking area (which includes Southern Punjab, and parts of upper Sindh and Eastern Baluchistan) and a sense of injustice about how this region and its heritage has been treated, especially by Lahore-centric Northern Punjab (by way of disclosure, I should say I myself am from Northern Punjab).
As such, the decision is not just appropriate but politically significant. According to a news story in The News (26 June, 2006), however, it could soon turn controversial.
Welcoming start of MA Seraiki classes at the Bahauddin Zakariya University, literary circles urged its vice chancellor to appoint a person fluent in spoken and written Seraiki with a grip on its literature as head of the department.
Reportedly, there are “speculations circling in [Multan] that a person who neither speaks, reads nor writes Seraiki is being made the head of the department.” In response, an open letter has been sent to the BZU vice chancellor Prof Dr Naseer Ahmed Khan. The letter’s tone signifies deep distrust and apprehension and does not have the sweetness one usually associates with the Seraiki language:
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