ISLAMABAD:Adviser to Prime Minister on Political, Public Affairs, National Heritage and Culture, Engineer Amir Muqam Wednesday lauding the role of media said that the forum was playing important role in creating awareness among the masses about public issues and promoting the national narrative.
Addressing 2nd One Day International Urdu Journalism Conference titled ‘Seventy-Five Years of Urdu Journalism’ organized by National Language Promotion Department (NLPD), the adviser highlighted the role of Urdu journalism in the freedom movement and stability of Pakistan and adding that Urdu Journalists had rendered great sacrifices for the sake of the country and democracy.
Besides others, Federal Secretary National Heritage and Culture Fareena Mazhar, well-known literary figure Iftikhar Arif, Senior Journalist Mujibur Rehman Shami, Hafeezullah Niazi, Ishfaq Hussain and Farhat Ullah Babar were also present on the occasion.
Amir Muqam said that the present government was committed to promoting Urdu language and taking all possible measures at all levels in that regard.
He said that Urdu journalism had played an important role in protecting human rights and democracy; and raising voice against economic injustices in the country.
The adviser said that one person had divided the nation, adding that PTI’s narrative was anti-nationalism and anti-people.
He said that PTI protestors set Jinnah House and Radio Pakistan building on fire and destroyed other public properties on May 9.
He said that no patriotic person could be involved to burnt the Jinnah House.
The adviser termed the budget presented by the federal government as very balanced and people-friendly.
He said that despite the challenging economic conditions, the coalition government had prepared and presented the budget keeping in view the welfare of the poor and salaried class was commendable.
Earlier, the adviser also inaugurated National Language Processing Laboratory (NLP) to implement and promote Urdu as the national language.
He said that the core objective of the project was to elevate Urdu to the status of languages with extensive digital data resources and equip it with modern technology applications.
The project includes the development of several applications, such as Machine Translation (MT), Speech Recognition (SR), and Optical Character Recognition (OCR), that will make language learning more accessible, facilitate cross-border communication and commerce, enable people to access online content, promote cross-cultural understanding, and help preserve language resources.
The adviser also inaugurated three-day books fair arranged by NLPD where books of the noted publishers and writers were available at discounted prices.
Amir Muqam also visited the book fair, where government, semi-government and private institutions and publishers from all over the country set up their book stalls.
Senior journalist Mujibur Rehman Shami said that Urdu newspapers fought battles for freedom, adding that generation after generation, Urdu literature had trained people.
He expressed pleasure on the inauguration of National Language Processing Laboratory and said that it would play important role in promoting Urdu journalism.
Shami said that politics and journalism were inter-connected.
Addressing the ceremony Secretary National Heritage and Culture Fareena Mazhar highlighted the role of Urdu Journalism and said that during the last 75 years, journalism not only created awareness among masses about the national and international issues but also added a great literary asset in Urdu literature.
The one-day conference was organized in connection with the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Pakistan and aimed at highlighting the services of Urdu journalism in literature.
Senior Journalist and analyst Hafeezullah Niazi, Farhatullah Babar, renowned literary figure Iftikhar Arif and Ishfaq Hussain also spoke on the occasion.