"I see countless of us, Believers in our mother tongue, not willing to stop whatever the cost it may arise.
I see countless of us, Believers in retaining our voice; we march with each step.
They may fear us of raining bullets but doesn't that speak for itself? Who is afraid?
They may charge us with 144, but doesn't that speak for itself? Who is unstoppable?
The scariest sound they will hear won't be the explosion of tear gas or their guns blazing, but it will be energy in our voice that we carry with us. "
Those were the brave, bold, and insane thoughts of countless student protesters who did not take 'NO' for an answer and broke the law on 21 February 1952 for the freedom of speaking in their mother tongue.
21 February was declared "The International Mother Language Day" by UNESCO in 1999.
Today we complete 70 years of this historical phenomenon,
yet we see police firing rubber bullets and sound grenades on student protests.
Today we meet 70 years of this historical phenomenon,
yet we see freedom of speech is taken away in the excuse of the digital security act.
But today, let's learn a few things about the people who didn't even get to fight for their language and are on the verge of language extinction.
- "Research increasingly shows that children's ability to learn a second language or additional language doesn't suffer when their mother tongue is the primary language of instruction throughout primary school"-UNESCO.
- 50% of the indigenous people of CHT have no formal schooling; less than 8% complete primary education, and only 2% complete secondary. Most of the children don't understand the instructions written in Bengali. - BD Chronicles, 21 February 2015
- While more than 50 Indigenous communities live in Bangladesh, neither gets any primary education in their language. - BD Chronicles, 21 February 2015
- It can be said from the surveys conducted on the 'Chakma community' state that Chakma community people are gradually shifting their language and losing their mother language vocabularies day by day.
- In north-eastern Bangladesh, Hari, Banai, Dalui, and Rajbongshi Indigenous communities have started to use Bengali, leaving their native languages due to the lack of social and economic recognition. - BD Chronicles, 21 February 2015
- And bilingualism is THE precursor of "Language Loss."
Bangladesh has become the host of more than 18 endangered languages till now, while a lot more are adding to the tally day by day.
Language loss is a severe issue in Bangladesh. While there is a lot of awareness around this issue on 21 February, it totally gets ignored for the rest of 364 days.
But let's ask the big question,
Are Indigenous Languages actually Important for us?
- Much of what humans know about nature is encoded only in oral languages. Indigenous groups that have interacted closely with the natural world for thousands of years often have profound insights into local lands, plants, animals, and ecosystems - many still undocumented by science. Studying Indigenous languages, therefore, benefits environmental understanding and conservation efforts.
- Studying various languages also increases our understanding of how humans communicate and store knowledge. Every time a language dies, we lose part of the picture of what our brains can do.
- Many endangered languages have rich oral cultures with stories, songs, and histories passed on to younger generations but no written forms. With the extinction of a language, an ENTIRE CULTURE IS LOST.
The martyrs of the 21st FEB stood up believing in the notion of how important a mother tongue can be to its community.
It's 70 years; we still breathe in that same land that they laid their lives on but did we successfully walk on that notion for which they laid their lives for?
The answer remains due!
Happy International Mother Language Day.
Written by Sushmit Chakma
Designed by Kushal Mandi Tripura
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