Language is congenital to the interpretation of culture. It is the medium through which people communicate values, ideas, beliefs and customs thus it has an important social function and cultivates feelings of group identity and solidarity among the different communities, experts said on Tuesday.
Experts said that there is nothing wrong in learning other languages but we should not feel shy in speaking our own language and should teach it first to the children.
Noted historian Zareef Ahmad Zareef said that the important duty of parents is to teach their mother tongue to their children at least six to seven years and then they can learn other languages as well.
“Kashmiri is a classical language and has a script of around 1600 years. We have a written history of around 5500 years,” he said.
He said that people of Kashmir are unconscious and are taking everything lightly and everyone here must speak native language as it is our identity.
“We are trying to speak other languages so as to feel superior but in the process we are losing our own identity,” he said, adding that there is no science book in Kashmiri because we aren’t taking anything serious.
Noted writer Dr Tanveer Hayat said that unconsciously Kashmiri language is alive, but consciously it is dead.
“We are speaking this language during our conversation in day to day life at home, at public places and even in emergencies we speak in our mother tongue. We erect sign boards at Kashmir University in English language not in Kashmiri, that’s the sign of our being dead consciously,” Hayat said.
Language is not only a means of communication but it also represents a diverse cultural and intellectual heritage, he said.
As per UNESCO’S report, more than 6,700 languages are spoken worldwide but at least 40% are threatened with extinction, he said, adding that we can’t ignore that language is fundamental to the communication of all kinds and communication plays an important role in making change and development in human society.
Let us tell you that the International Year of Languages was created when linguistic diversity was increasingly threatened, he added.
Shabnam Tilgami, member of Sahitya Academy and General Secretary Adbe Markaz Kamraz (AMK) said that in last few years, Kashmiri language has started to come back on track which wasn’t seen before as it has reached in our schools, colleges and universities and its introduction in educational institutions has helped in its promotion.
He said Kashmiri is being spoken in Kashmir and several parts of Jammu and language remains alive by poets and writers and in the last few years.
He said that it is the duty of every individual to protect and preserve the mother language that is our identity and this language deserves to be given the status of classical language.
This language has come into existence even before Urdu and English and steps must be taken for its promotion, he said.
Meanwhile an official of art culture and languages said that the government is taking various steps to preserve and promote Kashmiri language and many programs in Kashmiri are being conducted at the cultural academy—(KNO)
