Zubair Torwali

Zubair Torwali is a Pakistani linguist, educator, and community activist, based in Bahrain, Pakistan, active for preserving and promoting Pakistan's Dardic cultures and languages. He has authored and overseen several works about the Torwali people and their culture. He is also a researcher and public speaker.

Torwali graduated from Jahanzeb College in Swat, Pakistan, and completed his master's studies at the University of Peshawar. He serves as the editor of "We Mountains", a magazine covering the culture of the Pakistani Himalayas, in addition to being the founder of Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi (I.B.T), an organisation promoting the rights of marginalised language communities of northern Pakistan. As a writer, he has authored several research papers and articles including those in Pakistani English dailies and weeklies.

Torwali is a member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a Fellow of Japan's 2013 Asian Leadership Fellow Program and was shortlisted for the International Bremen Peace Award 2015. He was awarded the 2012 Hellman-Hammett Grant by Human Rights Watch." In 2021, I.B.T. whose Director is Zubair Torwali was chosen for the Linguapax International Award.

Works

Books

Torwali, Zubair (2023 December). “Torwali-English Dictionary for Students.” Idara Baraye Taleem wa Taraqi (IBT), Bahrain Swat, Pakistan.

Academic journals

Torwali, Zubair (2020) “Adapting the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) to Torwali”. ZAS Papers in Linguistics 64 (August):241-48. Torwali, Zubair (Dec 2021), “The Dards, Dardistan and its linguistic tapestry” Bi-annual research journal, “Pashto” V. 50, Issue 662, Pashto Academy, University of Peshawar, Pakistan.

Articles

American Pakistan Foundation: Linguistic Diversity in Pakistan, interview of Zubair Torwali Aeon Essays: How Dardistan became one of the most multilingual places on Earth by Zubair Torwali