Endangered cultures: Linguists demand local voices in languages authority

MOTHER passes unanimous resolution for promotion of regional languages.

Linguists and activists have asked the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government to take members from all linguistic groups on board before taking decisions concerning the promotion of regional languages for which an authority is to be set up in the province, according to a press release issued by a civil society organisation.

They made these demands through a unanimous resolution at a meeting of Mother Tongue and Heritage for Education and Research (Mother), an organisation working for the preservation and promotion of endangered languages of K-P.

Established in 2007, the organisation was reorganised at the meeting which was chaired by Dr Inayatullah Faizi, a noted scholar from Chitral. The meeting was attended by representatives of the 11 languages spoken in K-P, Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral, namely Torwali, Khowar, Gawri, Gawar-beti, Hindko, Dameli, Gujri, Palula, Shina, Wakhi and Ormuri.

They vowed to work together for upholding the cause of the organisation and to work in collaboration with all concerned stakeholders for the preservation and promotion of the languages spoken in the country, with primary focus in K-P, Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) and Kashmir.

Being an umbrella organization, Mother objectifies itself to provide a platform for the language activists, researchers, poets, literary people and others belonging to the language communities in Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindukush and Pamir regions.

It works for the promotion, preservation and overall development of these languages and cultures, which may be wiped out in the process of globalisation, the Dumaaki language spoken in G-B which reportedly risks extinction, being a case in point.

The representatives therefore passed a unanimous resolution and appreciated the decision of the K-P government to establish a regional languages authority for the teaching and promotion of languages spoken in the province.

The resolution demanded the K-P government to involve the language activists, researchers and scholars belonging to the respective language communities in the decision-making process.

The resolution also called upon the and the federal government and other provincial governments to take pluralistic decisions.

In addition, Forum for Language Initiatives (FLI) Assistant Director Fakhruddin Akhunzada, who is also a planning group member of an international organisation on languages preservation called Consortium on Training in Language Documentation and Conservation, informed the participants about the objectives of the consortium.

He said the consortium is being launched worldwide and has also decided to commemorate the “International Mother Language Day” on February 21.

New office-bearers include Inamullah as chairman, Muhammad Ziauddin as vice-chairman, Fakhruddin Akhunzada as general-secretary and Ishtiaq Ahmad Yaad as joint secretary.

Correction: In an earlier version of this article, "she" was written instead of he, when referring to Fakhruddin Akhunzada.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2012.