International Mother Language Day 2018

20 August is Nepali Bhasa Diwas. Nepali dept marks the occasion in a grand way - identifying with language, literature, culture, and above all with identity as Nepali; and Nepali as human. 

Today is International Mother Language Day. It was first celebrated in 1999 in the United Nations. From 2009 onwards, it is celebrated across the world. In the Bangla speaking world, today is specially known as Ekuse. 

We are situated in such a complex situation where there are constant, innumerous threats on “humanisation” in the form of class, caste, culture, religion, gender, and language. 

Similarly, there are strong resistance to replete such forces, and to assert our “humans” whether is Dalit movement, feminism in its various avatars, or language movement. 

In the context of language, 21 February is celebrated as International Mother Language Day. Why this day is important is know why this day came in being. 

66 years ago in Dhaka, Bangladesh, then it was a part of Pakistan and known as East Pakistan, it was a theocratic state in loose sense. The Govt. of Pakistan in its newly born nation proposed that Bangla should be written in Person-Arabic script rather than the Bangla script.  

Students, professor including the VC of Dhaka University stood in protest in honour of Bangla language and script. Later, protest spread outside the university. The Govt. East Pakistan arrested students, and five students were killed for their protest in front of the Legislative Assembly. 

This protest was the “voice of the marginalised” and in India’s context, all of us in more than a billion, we are “ minority” in one sense or other. 

In Indian Constitution acknowledges this very fact and provides provisions for the safeguard of our mother tongues:

Art 29 to conserve language

Art 30 running and maintaining educational institutes

Art 350 primary education in MT

Art 345 and 120 promotes multilingual governance - official language. 

In brief, Indian constitution provides space for multilinguality. It is recognises “humans” through its speakers. 

Human language is intimately connected with individual, society, culture and environment, and thrives on domains of its use. Hence, language plays an important role in understanding human. This is idea propagated long ago by Noam Chomsky. 

For a linguist, each language reflects an example of human linguistic ability. This linguistic ability has nothing to do with nationalities, caste, class, etc. Every language tell us what it means to be human. 

There is a global crisis- world’s linguistic diversity is depleting fast. India has a major share in it. For us, from this region - Darjeeling, Doars and Sikkim - there are more than 35 languages that are endangered. Other than Nepali, Hindi and Bangla, all other languages of this region is endangered. 

Under the direction of UN, the Govt of Indian established CEL in various universities to document, describe and safeguard these endangered languages. Proudly, Sikkim University has a CEL, and has mandate to work on the more than 34 endangered language son this region. Currently, the CEL is working on Magar, Gurung, Bhujel, Sherpa and Rokdung/Bantawa. 

Apart from that many department of Sikkim university are working on various aspects of languages and communities - sociology, anthropology, etc. Even Nepali department works on various languages and communities. So far, we began with Kulung, Bhujel, Thulung, Magar, Tamang among others. 

We look forward to students and various departments to work on various languages and communities strengthening the objective to make these languages and communities sustainable, and to accept them as human rather than sub-human species. 

Sikkim has 11 official languages, of which other than Nepali all 10 official languages are endangered. Hence guaranteeing the official status is not enough to safeguard one’s language and one’s heritage. In such condition, I think, there fold path to language sustenance is possible:

1. Every scholar needs to responsible for his/her communities language situation. The scholar should highlight the situation. 
2. As guaranteed in the Constitution, we need to be aware of the provisions and to strive that such provisions are implemented. 
3. We need to ascertain ecology of language to make any policy practices. Rather than “flock mentality” - what supports one language may not support another. Each language requires its own ecological system. 

Finally, we also need to accept that fact that we are in the multilingual world. Knowing many languages will not makes us ill. Knowing many languages in best way to make every language survive. 

There is no harm if a Newar learn Tamang, and a Tamang learns Bhujel. 

A narrow conception of identifying language specifically with a community has proven dangerous as it has led to the depleting linguistic diversity and repertoire. 

The Nepali society was not specific to any language. In a village of the Bantawas, every other members whether Bahun, Chettri, Kami Damai or Gurung, Newar, everybody speaks their own language in addition to Bantawa as lingua franca. Such thriving example can still be found in Soreng where even the tradesmen like tailors, barbers and cobblers, who’s are the speakers of Bihari languages do speak Tamang. 

I wish this scheme of multilinguality prevails, languages are not moribund but safe and sustainable, and all of us can live and survive as humans.