Shakil Ahmed Shakil, a renowned Shina language expert shares his enduring experience in promotion of Shina language and phrases his view in these words, “I, for my part, believe in one of the significant statements of “the charter of the Council of Europe” and disclose it in the context of Pakistan. “The protection of the historical, regional and local languages of Pakistan contributes to the maintenance and development of Pakistan’s cultural wealth and traditions. The promotion and protection of regional or local languages in the different provinces and regions of Pakistan represents an important contribution to the building of a Pakistan based on the principles of democracy and cultural diversity within the framework of national sovereignty and territorial integrity.” It is evident that our policy-makers have irrational fear about granting protection to the local languages of the country. While we observe that Switzerland has as many as four official languages: German, French, Italian and Rheato-Romance. Some 70% of the population is German-speaking but the people have not chosen it to serve the official language of the country. Even so, these factors have never been perceived as a threat to the unity and identity of the Swiss. In my sense, it is need of hour to pick out the very reality and elevate the status of local languages.
Shakil Ahmed Shakil wrote his book of Shina folk tales with their Urdu translations entitled Dadi Shiloke (Shakil 2001), he took help from this pioneering work.
