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Speakers at a literary gathering here on Tuesday said that Pashto folklore should be preserved by including it in the curriculum of educational institutions.

The event on “Folk Literature Heritage — Our Folklore, Our Treasure” was organised by Culture Directorate of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pashto writers, poets and academicians spoke on the occasion.

They said that Pashto folklore was unwritten literature that needed to be preserved by introducing it as a separate subject or making part of the curriculum.

They said that folklore, after passing on orally from one generation to another, became a source of insight into the past events, life and culture.

They said that Pashto folklore needed to be preserved and taught to the young people, who could not read Pashto since it was not taught in many schools.

“Afghanistan is far ahead of us as they have folklore literary society and even printing a magazine but nothing is done here about it,” said Prof Dawar Khan Daud.

He said that folklore, a treasure for Pashto literature, had three forms.

“In material form folklore has all those things, which were used by people and now are displayed in museums like clothes, utensils. Semi-material folklore includes dramas and cultural dances. Literary folklore means all the unwritten folk songs,” he added.

Known Pashto writer Saadullah Jan Barq said that past rulers and kings made up stories that became part of the history but folklore informed people about the past.

“History comprises of praise of the then rulers, who themselves wrote it.

“Those were just 15 per cent [of the population] about whom we read in what we call history. The sentiments and truth about the rest of the 85 per cent is found in folklores and mythology,” he said.

Mr Barq said that mythology was just symbolism as human beings liked to hear stories. He said that truths about life were presented through symbolic stories based on gods and goddesses.

“The heartbeat of people can be heard in mythology and folklore that tell us about the people and their life,” he added.

Salma Shaheen, the former director of Pashto Academy who collected 35,000 Tappay or Pashto folk songs said that Tappa was a folklore that told one about culture, traditions and history of Pakhtuns living in rural setting.

Interestingly, many of the Tappay, which had a perfect poetic form and rhythm, were a creation of rural women.

Akbar Hoti, an official of the culture directorate, said that such events were meant to engage young and known Pashto writers in literary discussions. It also promoted Pashto language and culture, he added.

The literary gathering, later on, turned into a cultural event when folk singer Irfan Kamal, Ahmed Gul Ustad and Meena Gul sang Tappay and poems with traditional music.

The students and teachers of University of Peshawar and Khan Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan enjoyed the lectures and the music alike.

Originally published in Dawn, October 18th, 2017