LARKANA: Unfolding Indus script during international conference was the first attempt to decipher seals and artifacts found from Mohenjo Daro. Foreign scholars, who attended the three-day conference on “Mohenjo Daro Indus Script 2020”, came to know about the research so far made and presented their research papers in this connection.
This was stated by Dr Kaleemullah Lashari, Chairman, Technical Consultative Committee for Mohenjo Daro, while addressing the participants at the concluding session of the three-day international conference held at Mohenjo Daro. He said during last four decades, research work on Indus civilization had reduced due to which required material was less available.
He said the scholars recommended to establish a digital data base where all the material could be kept and which must be available to the researchers and scholars worldwide. He said that the conference also recommended that all relevant departments should extend their support to the cause of deciphering the Indus script and the research work. He said the subject of archaeology is being reduced day by day and there are examples that one university has only seven teachers of archaeology with only two students.
The conference recommended to every higher education commission to make archaeology department and research work strong by releasing enhanced grants so that students could also be given employment after obtaining degree. The conference also recommended that Sindhi Language Authority and other language institutes across the country should come forward and start research work.
Sindh Minister for Culture Syed Sardar Shah announced to implement all the recommendation of the conference. He said since Mohenjo Daro is a World Heritage site; therefore, UNESCO and other relevant organisations will be taken on board for further research and digging.
He said soon Data and Resource Center will be established at Mohenjo Daro for which he urged all scholars to help in research work. Shah further said that 100 years will be completed in 2020 in digging of Mohenjo Daro and up to next three-years “Celebrate Mohenjo Daro” awareness programs will be held at local, national and international level and world will know the importance of Mohenjo Daro.
He said it was the first endeavor to read Indus script. Shah complained that federal government was not cooperating for saving world heritage site of Mohenjo Daro for which they had written so many times but without any result, hence, Sindh government was spending at its own.
He disclosed that even, it was tried to include Mohenjo Daro into CPEC for which we had written to China but it could not be included in CPEC. He condemned closure of PIA flights to Mohenjo Daro as saying the federal institutions considered Sindh as growers of tail end.
The scholars recommended that resource center be established on modern scientific lines at Mohenjo Daro for continued research, all discovered record be preserved, help must also be sought from SAARC countries researchers for deciphering Indus script, apart from universities of US, Oman, Italy and other countries for which funds should be ensured.
More than 11 scholars took part in the conference who included Dr. Ayumu Konasukawa of Japan, Dr. Andreas Fuls, Dr. Steffen Terp Laursen, Dr. Dennys Frenez, Dr. Gregg Jamison, Dr. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, Dr. Michael Jansen, Dr. Abdul Samad, Dr. Farzand Masih, Dr. Kaleemullah Lashari and Dr. Asma Ibrahim.