Language is one of the most detectable identities of an individual as well as of a community. It amply reflects and sustains as the vehicle of the respective culture. Each culture, even with inconsequential traditions, has given birth to languages. In the last millennium, invasions and colonization mindlessly wiped off many cultures and languages from the face of the earth. By the beginning of the third millennium, strong resistance to the override of race, religion, and political ideology had begun. Yet, we still witness globalization effectively permeating new trends of language domination and supremacy.
Language exists not merely as a medium of communication but also as a medium of education and development. It is no more a small wonder that language diversity is under significant threat. Many languages have disappeared from the face of the earth. Most living languages are kept out of our day-to-day life. 40% of people do not even have access to primary education in their language. Even when we reiterate the principle that mother tongue-based multilingual education is the most scientific and most beneficial for the wellness of children, family, and country, language penetration, withal, continues unabated through us.
On November 17, 1999, UNESCO adopted a resolution calling for the observance of February 21 as the World Mother Language Day, which the United Nations subsequently approved in 2008. In 1952, university students in Bangladesh passionately agitated for the declaration of Bengali as the national language of Bangladesh. Scores of students tragically died in a police fire on February 21. Thus February 21 became the universal mother tongue day in memory of this agitation to uphold the mother tongue’s value.
India proudly reserves the most extensive and inhomogeneous linguistic diversity around the globe. According to the 1961 census, there were 1652 languages in India. In 1971, it shockingly dropped to 808. But there are only 121 recognized languages in India as per the 2011 census. These are intricate to the fact that we still stay at the forefront of injustice to the indigenous languages. According to the 2013 People’s Linguistic Survey of India, more than 220 languages have become extinct in the last 50 years. Besides, 197 languages are categorized as endangered. A language disappears when words in another replace words in one language or when a language-speaking community goes extinct. Languages without scripts or written literature, especially, are more vulnerable. They can never be recovered. The death of the last person who spoke the native language has recently turned individual speeches extinct as their language and literature properties have not been recorded at any rate. UNESCO has identified five such languages. They are all tribal languages of Uttarakhand, Assam and Manipur, such as Ahom, Adro, Rangas, Senkanmai and Tholcha. According to the People’s Language Survey, Adhuni, Dichi, Ghallu, Heglo and many other languages are now extinct. We are still kept in the dark about their true ancientness or the actual levels of knowledge and literature they possessed.
According to the People’s Linguistic Survey, there are 780 languages in India. Vadari and Kolhapur in Maharashtra, Golla and Gosari in Karnataka, and Telangana are not integrated into the list as the number of speakers of these languages is estimated to be less than 10,000. Of the 197 endangered languages listed, only Bodo and Maitai are recognized as these owned scripts. In a nation like India with a long tradition, where knowledge is passed down orally from generation to generation, it is quite unethical and a colossal offense not to give recognition because there is no written literature. It is a denial of our culture and historical reality. Such outdated laws also contribute to the destruction of languages. The Government of India should reconsider and amend such laws promptly. Legal frameworks and other mechanisms should be prepared in advance so that the status of languages can be rightly determined during the 2021 census.
UNESCO estimates that 2464 languages are threatened with extinction all over the world. It has the longest list of languages from India, with 197 languages! One hundred ninety-two languages are listed as endangered in the United States, 190 in Brazil and 131 in the Russian Federation. A small region like Indonesia and Nepal, are having 143 languages and 71 languages on their list. Languages are divided into five categories based on their risk level: extinct, critically endangered, severely endangered, definitely endangered, vulnerable. The problem is severe. But The solution is not so difficult. Understanding the issue is essential, but discussions, debates and decisions should be more focused and centred on solutions. It requires planning, awareness, commitment and conviction.
There are different opinions among scholars about the mother tongue. Initially, by general acceptance, the mother tongue is the language of the mother. But in the present situation, it cannot be entirely correct. It is undisputed that the natural language and environment in which a child grows up influences the child’s world of knowledge and thinking, along with the mother’s tongue. Surrounding means family and cultural atmosphere. But this is an issue of the micro decimal population in the world.
Indigenous languages are the driving force behind social harmony and the economic development process of all societies. Hence, local languages or mother tongues need to be approached not only in the cultural context and emotional connection but also as the basis of social justice and economic development. Formal education and research through indigenous languages are essential to win the trust of all people and to involve them in development activities. Therefore, international agencies, including UNESCO, emphasize the importance of the mother tongue in education. Quality and affordable universal education are seen as the most crucial goal of the Global Sustainable Development Agenda by 2030 as education is the solution to all the problems we face today. Therefore, it should be based on the mother tongue and must foster multilingualism. In this context, the decade 2022 to 2032 has been declared the Indigenous Language Decade. Prior to this, UNESCO had directed the members that the theme of this year’s World Mother Language Day is “Fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society.”
As all know, the new National Education Policy is the result of diligent and continuous efforts over the past century for a system of education that embodies the importance of national pride through Indian knowledge and value systems of life. Thus, it issues forth a roadmap for the solutions to multiple language issues that we have in India. As the Indian languages become the medium of instruction, our traditional knowledge, arts, culture and history naturally evolve as the inseparable parts of education. The teaching based in the local language will efficaciously connect the pupil with traditional vocations and agriculture. Acceding to higher education and research in indigenous languages will resoundingly impact in the Indian languages’ glorious re-entry to the realm of knowledge and power. This will also bestow immense confidence upon rural geniuses with the local language to come forward and advance to higher levels. Also, the traditional understanding of our languages and modern knowledge will get integrated. By choosing competitive examinations and entrance examinations in our languages, the mental stress of children will be alleviated, the self-esteem of the rural people will be enhanced and the unnecessary illusions that have prevailed among parents today may gradually wither away. The National Institution of Translation Center envisioned at the national level plans to integrate Indian languages with technology. The decision to bilingual approach to professional education and research can also be counted as an indicative government initiative towards language empowerment. Despite these, the first and primary step in preserving language is to apply it in one’s own personal life with confidence and conviction. The use of language in day-to-day discourse is a step towards self-esteem: from putting one’s own signature in mother-tongue to teaching one’s own wards in mother tongue-based schools can be the respective steps towards this worthy transformation. Those who are at higher ream must exhibit the sensibility of initiating to prepare their research papers and articles in Indian languages. Mother Language Day, thus, becomes meaningful when one heartily realizes that one can never amply find an alternative option for mother, motherland, and mother tongue.
A.Vinod karuvarakundu is Secretary, Madhava Ganita Kendra, Trichur Kerala and Member National Monitoring Committee for Education, Govt. of India
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