Politics of language: Ormuri on brink of extinction
Militancy, subsequent displacement forces language to disappear
Militancy, subsequent displacement forces language to disappear. DESIGN: ESSA MALIK
PESHAWAR:
There are reportedly more than 60 languages spoken in Pakistan. A majority of them are spoken in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Fata and other northern parts of the country.
While the United Nations celebrates International Mother Language Day on February 21 with the belief that languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing tangible and intangible heritage, nothing has been done so far to save Ormuri from extinction.
Endangered
Ormuri is one of the languages spoken in the terrorism-hit Kaniguram area of South Waziristan. The rise in militancy, instability and subsequent displacement of Ormuri-speaking people has expedited the disappearance of the language.
Military operations that started in South Waziristan in 2009 coerced Ormuri-speaking people to abandon their villages and move to settled parts of the province. Adjustment for newcomers is always hard – one of the prerequisites is adopting the dominant language of the welcoming area. The Ormuri-speaking people could no longer speak their language freely nor practice their customs and traditions. A majority of them adopted Pashto – the dominant language of the region to survive.
Although women and children conversed in Ormuri in their homes; outside their four walled territory, the language was an alien entity in social and cultural gatherings including places of worship. The language was also spoken in parts of Tirah Valley earlier. However, it has now been replaced by Pashto which reigns supreme there.
No preservation
“Our government is not only oblivious to the history of our language but is also indifferent – we are losing our maternal language and it has made no effort to reinstate or conserve it,” Ormuri researcher, poet and linguist Rozi Khan Burki said. “When the military operations ended, there is no reason to keep the people away from their areas and language,” he added.
Burki also said the language and its terminology is on the verge of extinction as Pashto and Persian have replaced it in Logar already. “Kaniguram is one of the few areas where it is still spoken but given how fast cultural and lingual diversity is vanishing from the region, Ormuri’s loss will come as no surprise.”
Moreover, very little work was done with the written form and prose of this language. While Sher Ghulam, a local poet, has written some poems in the language, no literary tradition of the language officially exists. Burki said no organised effort has been made by any individual, independent institution or government to help Ormuri survive.
Past and present
Ormuri has its own dictionary, poetry compilation and grammar. The language is also known as Bargista or Burki as the people of Burki tribe are mainly associated with this language.
The Ormuri Language in Past and Present written by Russian writer VA Efimov and translated into English by Joan Beart states there were around 8,000-10,000 families in Logar, Afghanistan at the beginning of the 19th century and between 4,000 and 5,000 families in Kaniguram, Pakistan at the beginning of the 20th century who spoke Ormuri.
According to Burki, the language can be traced back to 1500 BC and its words are found in the primary collection of sacred Zoroastrian texts – Avesta. The memoirs of Mughal emperor Zahiruddin Babar – Babarnama also refers to Ormuri as Burki language.
The grammar of this language was first made by Ghulam Muhammad Khan, a resident of Charsadda, who was sent as district inspector in DI Khan specifically for this purpose. In 1991, Rozi Khan Burki also wrote Ormuri grammar in a small booklet.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2016.
There are reportedly more than 60 languages spoken in Pakistan. A majority of them are spoken in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Fata and other northern parts of the country.
While the United Nations celebrates International Mother Language Day on February 21 with the belief that languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing tangible and intangible heritage, nothing has been done so far to save Ormuri from extinction.
Endangered
Ormuri is one of the languages spoken in the terrorism-hit Kaniguram area of South Waziristan. The rise in militancy, instability and subsequent displacement of Ormuri-speaking people has expedited the disappearance of the language.
Military operations that started in South Waziristan in 2009 coerced Ormuri-speaking people to abandon their villages and move to settled parts of the province. Adjustment for newcomers is always hard – one of the prerequisites is adopting the dominant language of the welcoming area. The Ormuri-speaking people could no longer speak their language freely nor practice their customs and traditions. A majority of them adopted Pashto – the dominant language of the region to survive.
Although women and children conversed in Ormuri in their homes; outside their four walled territory, the language was an alien entity in social and cultural gatherings including places of worship. The language was also spoken in parts of Tirah Valley earlier. However, it has now been replaced by Pashto which reigns supreme there.
No preservation
“Our government is not only oblivious to the history of our language but is also indifferent – we are losing our maternal language and it has made no effort to reinstate or conserve it,” Ormuri researcher, poet and linguist Rozi Khan Burki said. “When the military operations ended, there is no reason to keep the people away from their areas and language,” he added.
Burki also said the language and its terminology is on the verge of extinction as Pashto and Persian have replaced it in Logar already. “Kaniguram is one of the few areas where it is still spoken but given how fast cultural and lingual diversity is vanishing from the region, Ormuri’s loss will come as no surprise.”
Moreover, very little work was done with the written form and prose of this language. While Sher Ghulam, a local poet, has written some poems in the language, no literary tradition of the language officially exists. Burki said no organised effort has been made by any individual, independent institution or government to help Ormuri survive.
Past and present
Ormuri has its own dictionary, poetry compilation and grammar. The language is also known as Bargista or Burki as the people of Burki tribe are mainly associated with this language.
The Ormuri Language in Past and Present written by Russian writer VA Efimov and translated into English by Joan Beart states there were around 8,000-10,000 families in Logar, Afghanistan at the beginning of the 19th century and between 4,000 and 5,000 families in Kaniguram, Pakistan at the beginning of the 20th century who spoke Ormuri.
According to Burki, the language can be traced back to 1500 BC and its words are found in the primary collection of sacred Zoroastrian texts – Avesta. The memoirs of Mughal emperor Zahiruddin Babar – Babarnama also refers to Ormuri as Burki language.
The grammar of this language was first made by Ghulam Muhammad Khan, a resident of Charsadda, who was sent as district inspector in DI Khan specifically for this purpose. In 1991, Rozi Khan Burki also wrote Ormuri grammar in a small booklet.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2016.