Sanskrit, the ancient Indian language, is making its way back to Pakistan classrooms for the first time since partition in 1947.
According to a report by The Tribune, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) launched a four-credit course in the classical language after a three-month weekend workshop received strong interest from students and scholars.
As part of the Sanskrit course, Pakistani students will also be exposed to the Urdu rendition of “Hai katha sangram ki”, the iconic theme from the Mahabharat television series, The Tribune report said.
Pakistan has one of the richest, yet most neglected, Sanskrit archives at the Punjab University library, said Dr Ali Usman Qasmi, Director of the Gurmani Centre.
“A significant collection of Sanskrit palm-leaf manuscripts was catalogued in the 1930s by scholar JCR Woolner, but no Pakistani academic has engaged with this collection since 1947. Only foreign researchers use it. Training scholars locally will change that,” he told The Tribune.
Dr Qasmi said that the university aims to bring courses on the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita. “In 10-15 years, we could see Pakistan-based scholars of the Gita and the Mahabharata.”
According to the report, an Associate Professor at Forman Christian College, Dr Shahid Rasheed, has been the main force behind the introduction of the course.
“Classical languages contain much wisdom for mankind,” Dr Rasheed said, while sharing that he knows Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit. He said that he had to rely on online platforms to learn these languages.
“It took almost a year to cover classical Sanskrit grammar. And I'm still studying it,” he said.
Sharing that he has often been questioned for his choice to study Sanskrit, Dr Rasheed said, “I tell them, why should we not learn it? It is the binding language of the entire region. Sanskrit grammarian Panini's village was in this region.”
“Much writing was done here during the Indus Valley Civilisation. Sanskrit is like a mountain – a cultural monument. We need to own it. It is ours too; it's not tied to any one particular religion,” he added.
