Literature, journalism help develop society, seminar told.

QUETTA -- Promotion of journalism and literature is directly related to the development of society, speakers at a seminar said on Sunday.

They noted that monthly Balochi Zind magazine was being regularly published for the last two decades, adding that in democracies journalism was considered the fourth pillar of the state.

They recalled the contribution of individuals like Yousaf Aziz Magsi, Malik Mohammad Panha, Mir Gul Khan Naseer, Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai and Lala Siddiq Baloch to the promotion of journalism and literature in Balochistan. The theme of the event was '20 years of Balochi Zind'.

Professor Dr Nadir Bakhat presided over the inaugural session while the other special guest of the session was journalist Amir Rana, who had come from Islamabad to attend the ceremony.

Munir Ahmed Badini, Agha Gul, Ghulam Farooq, Rahat Malik, Irfan Ahmed Baig, Dr Zeenat Sana Baloch, Mohammad Rafiq Mughari and Shabbir Rakhsani spoke at length about renowned personalities of Balochistan and their services to journalism and literature.

They said that there were over 35 languages in Pakistan facing extinction and three of them are from the Thar area.

They said that Balochi Zind and other magazines in regional languages were playing a role for protection of languages, culture and literary heritage because only through expression of creativity 'we can keep our languages...