Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 21. 2. 21
Mother Language
February
21 is observed as International Mother Language Day. It was proclaimed by the General Conference of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November 1999. The UN General
Assembly welcomed the proclamation of the day in its resolution of 2002.
The theme of the 2021
International Mother Language Day, “Fostering multilingualism for
inclusion in education and society,” recognizes that languages and multilingualism can
advance inclusion, and the Sustainable Development Goals' focus on leaving no
one behind.
Today there is growing awareness that
languages play a vital role in development, in ensuring cultural diversity and
intercultural dialogue, but also in strengthening co-operation and attaining
quality education for all, in building inclusive knowledge societies and
preserving cultural heritage, and in mobilizing political will for applying the
benefits of science and technology to sustainable development.
However, the irony is many languages
world over are dying. Between
1950 and 2010, 230 languages went extinct, according to the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger. Today, a
third of the
world’s languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers left. Every two weeks a language dies with its last speaker, 50 to 90 percent of them are predicted to disappear by the next century.
When humanity loses a language, we also lose the potential for greater
diversity in art, music, literature, and oral traditions. Thus there is a need
for preserving languages.
UNESCO believes education, based on the first language
or mother tongue, must begin from the early years as early childhood care and
education is the foundation of learning. The New Education Policy is in sync
with this line of thinking. In a segment called ‘multi-lingualism, and power of
language’, the new National Education Policy (NEP) says “wherever
possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till
Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother tongue/local
language/regional language".
Thereafter,
the home/local language shall continue to be taught as a language wherever
possible. This will be followed by both public and private schools.
All
languages will be taught in an enjoyable and interactive style and states may
enter into bilateral agreements to hire teachers from each other, the HRD
Ministry said.
“The
three-language learned by children will be the choices of States, regions, and
of the students, so long as at least two of the three languages are native to
India".
Story
behind the Mother Language Day
There is a tragic story behind the proclamation of Feb 21 as Mother
Language Day. When Pakistan was created in 1947, it had two
geographically separate parts: East and West Pakistan. The two parts located
thousands of miles apart were very different in terms of culture and language.
The only glue that bound them was religion.
In 1948,
the then Government of Pakistan declared Urdu to be the sole national language
of Pakistan even though Bengali or Bangle was spoken by the majority of
people combining East and West Pakistan. The people of East Pakistan protested as
their mother language was Bangla. They demanded Bangla also to be one of the
national languages, in addition to Urdu. The demand was raised first by
Dhirendranath Datta from East Pakistan on 23 February 1948, in the constituent
Assembly of Pakistan.
Pakistan
government did not pay any heed to the demand. Instead they outlawed public
meeting and rallies. The students of the University of Dhaka and Dhaka Medical
College, with the support of the general public, arranged massive rallies and
meetings. On 21 and 22 February 1952, police opened fire on such rallies. At
least nine students died. Hundreds were injured. This was a rare incident in
history, where people sacrificed their lives for their mother tongue.
Since
then people of East Pakistan observe February 21 as Bhasha Divas (Language
Day).
A makeshift monument was erected at Dhaka to commemorate the
‘languge-martyrs’ on 23 February 1952 by the students. It was soon demolished
on 24 February by the Pakistani police force.
The Language Movement gained momentum, and after a long
struggle, Bengali gained official status in Pakistan with Urdu in 1956. To
commemorate the dead, the Shaheed Minar was designed and built by Bangladeshi
sculptors Hamidur Rahman in collaboration with Novera Ahmed. The
construction of the monument was delayed because of the martial law and was
finally completed in 1963, and stood until thd Bangladesh Liberation War in
1971, when it was demolished completely. After Bangladesh gained independence
later that year, it was rebuilt. It was expanded in 1983.
 |
| Language Martyr Monument, Dhaka, Bangladesh |
Bangladeshis
celebrate the International Mother Language Day as one of their tragic days. Two
Bangladeshi persons living in Canada wrote a letter to the then UN Gen
Secretary Kofi Annan to take a step for saving the world's languages from
extinction by declaring an International Mother Language Day. Rafiq proposed
the date as 21 February to commemorate the 1952 killings in Dhaka during the
Language Movement.
What
is Mother Language?
Delhi
based socio-cultural organization Intellect, largely comprising of persons
hailing from Odisha presently settled in different north Indian cities last
year organized a seminar on mother language. I was one of the participants of
the seminar. I raised this question: what is mother language? The language that
the mother in a family speaks? What if the father and mother belong to two
different linguistic communities and live at a place where none speak those
languages? This is a situation- that is increasing especially in the mobile
upper class.
Veteran
journalist TJS George wrote in mainstream (Oct. 12, 2019): Matrubhasha (mother languge) is not necessarily
the language one’s mother speaks. The language with which we grow up, the
language in which we think is in effect our mother tongue. That is why vast
numbers of new-generation Indians have English as their mother tongue. In a few
years English-speaking new-gen Indians will become the old-gen majority in the
country. This is a natural process because young people learn English to do
well in life. Tamil parents settled in Delhi for life may have children who
consider Hindi their mother tongue. A Kerala man who spent his working life in
Hongkong sent his daughter to a Chinese-medium school. She grew up speaking
Cantonese and English and became completely alien to Malayalam.
Singapore
is an example of how phrases mesh with prevailing conditions rather than their
literal meanings. “Mother tongue” in Singapore means the language a citizen’s
ethnic group speaks whether the citizen and his mother speak it or not. “First
language” is the term for English which is effectively the country’s national
language. In Canada, French and English enjoy equality at the federal level. In tiny Switzerland German, French and Italian
are official languages with equal status. Mature democracies behave in mature
ways, making everyone feel equal.
Tail piece: The Rat Story
It was a practical session
in the psychology class.
The professor showed a
large cage with a male rat in it.
The rat was in the middle
of the cage.
Then, the professor kept a
piece of cake on one side and kept a female rat on the other side.
The male rat ran towards
the cake and ate it.
Then, the professor
changed the cake and replaced it with some bread.
The male rat ran towards
the bread.
This experiment went on
with the professor changing the food every time.
And, every time, the male
rat ran towards the food item and never towards the female rat.
Professor said: This experiment
shows that food is the greatest strength and attraction.
Then, one of the students
from the back rows said:
"Sir, why don't you
change the female rat? This one may be his wife!"
The professor stood
straight up his finger pointing towards the student and said "You are a genius"
***
Anthology of this weekly column published in 2020 has been
published in book form. Should you want a free e-copy of it, please write a
mail to mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com.
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