Leader Writer: Ksh. Sopen
On February 21, International Mother Language Day is observed every year across the globe with a yearly theme. “Local Languages for Global Citizenship: Spotlight on Science” is the theme of this year. This international day was announced by the General Conference of the UNESCO on November 17, 1999 to promote worldwide awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and also multilingualism; its observance was later on formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly making 2008 as the International Year of Languages. The fight for mother language and multilingualism has a history which originated from Bangladesh – the then East Pakistan; and the fight is, though peaceful, still continuing in the province of Punjab of the present Pakistan in favour of Punjabi language. February 21 symbolises the day in 1952 when Bengali speaking students were demonstrating for recognition of their language as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan. The demonstrators were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, near a High Court, capital of the present day Bangladesh.
The history of this language movement started in 1948 when the then Pakistan government declared Urdu language as the sole national language. This declaration sparked a series of protests among the Bengali speaking majority of East Pakistan. The government at Lahore outlawed the protests. Defying the government, the students of the University of Dhaka and other language activists organised a protest on February 21, 1952 and on that fateful day, police opened fire at the demonstrators and killed four students. Their sacrifice for that cause is now remembered as International Mother Language Day. Indeed, mother language has meant everything for a community. A child communicates for the first time with his or her mother in mother language. A language has a peculiar relationship and historical linking with its speakers, societal setup. It is also a cultural heritage. Through mother language, the rural folk express their feelings and emotions. Its meaningful translation in any other language is beyond the tangible idiom. The beauty of language lies in the expression of commoner of the rural folk, not in the institutions and universities. An ocean of unexplored folklore knowledge lies with the vastness of languages scattered around the globe.
At the time of difficulty, a man only speaks in his mother language. In this regard, there is an anecdote which runs like this: in the court of Akbar, there was a great scholar who mastered many languages. His mastery in many languages is so great that no one knew his real mother language, which makes him so proud. One day, Akbar announced a reward for the identification of the mother language of the scholar. Witty Birbal took the challenge. To identify the mother language of the scholar, Birbal spurted bucketful of water to the scholar while the scholar was sleeping. The said scholar out of shock responded in Telegu language which proved that Telegu is his mother language.
One important point worth mentioning here is the disturbing trend in the schools of Manipur. Most of the private schools in Manipur preferred English language as medium of teaching so that the students could speak English. The students might success in the job market but they can never be a master of themselves. At least, mathematics and critical science topics are expected to be taught in mother language while social science and other subjects could be taught in English language.