Srinagar, Feb 23: Kashmiri, one of the oldest languages in the subcontinent, is facing an apparent threat of extinction in the present globalised world.
Amid this fear, the language experts are hopeful that the language will survive.
At the forefront is the Kashmiri department at Kashmir University which is making efforts for its promotion.
The head of the Kashmiri department at KU Mahfooz Jan said like many small languages of the world, the Kashmiri language is also facing the latest and most difficult problems, and effective measures must be taken immediately to redress those.
“We are playing a major role in the promotion and preservation of the Kashmiri language and literature,” Jan told UNI
“It has produced world famous poets like Lala Ded, Habba Khatoon, Mehjoor, Rehman Rahi etc. Besides Kashmiri language has its wonderful literature”, she said.
Prof Jan said she was creating an effective environment at KU for teaching and learning while providing ample material for research in its literature and encouraging and guiding the researchers.
She said more than 72 students are enrolled in post-graduation courses in the department every year.
The head of the Kashmir department said more than one hundred children have qualified the National Eligibility Test.
Efforts are underway at the official and community levels to ensure the promotion and preservation of the mother tongue Kashmiri so that this historical and ancient language can meet the demands of the times.
However, more effective and coordinated action is required to ensure the language remains alive among the new generations.
While the New Education Policy advocates using the mother tongues, or local languages as the medium of instruction up to at least grade 5, the students choose Urdu over their mother tongue in the schools. At homes, even children are discouraged by parents from speaking in mother language
Well-known poet and critic of the valley, Wahid Raza, said the Kashmiri language is facing many challenges and if immediate and effective measures are not taken to counter them, this language could be in serious danger.
“Kashmiri has been included in the curriculum in schools, but the teachers are not adequately prepared”, he said and alleged that “subject experts who have obtained degrees in this language are not teaching it, but often an expert from another subject is found teaching Kashmiri”.
“The Kashmiri language is highly discouraged in private schools, which is a big challenge for this language”, he alleged.
“Speaking in Kashmiri language at home and using the same language for teaching in schools plays a key role in its preservation”, he opined.
Sagar Nazir, a well-known Kashmiri poet, is very optimistic that the Kashmiri language will survive as long as there are Kashmiri people.
“Earlier it seemed that the Kashmiri language would die out very soon, but the growing interest in the language among the new generation is encouraging”, he said.
Nazir said in our new generation, along with English and Urdu, a large number of Kashmiri language poets are also coming forward.
He said, although the language is discouraged in private schools, Kashmiri is still taught in some of them.
“Children are fined for speaking in Kashmiri, but its effects will be less if the children speak Kashmiri at home”, he added.
He said parents and teachers have a lot to do to ensure the preservation of the language.
