Nishikant Khajuria
In technical terms, language is a tool to express the feelings through a set pattern of words or the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way.
However, when it comes to the mother language, the words and their method of communication become identity. The beautiful sounds, which we hear, understand and get familiar in the mother-tongue since the very beginning, have an important role in shaping our feelings, emotions and thought-processes. The concept of the mother-tongue is a fascinating aspect of language that has transcended generations.
Likewise for the people of this Duggar land, Dogri is more than just a means of communication. It is a repository of Dogras’ collective history and heritage. It provides us an identity and a focus that binds the Dogras together.
On linguistics scale, Dogri is ranked as the second most spoken language in the northern region. Besides Jammu division of J&K, Dogri is also spoken in Hamirpur, Barsar, Una, Chintpurni, Kangra, and Bilaspur regions in Himachal Pradesh as well as Gurdaspur and Pathankot in Punjab and even parts of Pakistan occupied Kashmir where it is named as Pahari.
According to the historians, Dogri traces back its roots to Indo-Aryan language which ultimately comes from Vedas and Sanskrit. The language was first mentioned in Amir Khusru’s list of Indian languages. Even as Dogri contains words from Persian, Arabic and also from English, this is an independent language and not influenced by other languages.
Over the past some decades, the language has grown drastically and recognized as the modern literary language- thanks to prominent Dogri stalwarts like Padma Sachdev, Dinoo Bhai Pant, Prof Ram Nath Shastri, Kehar Singh Madhukar and others. On December 22, 2003, we had achieved a major milestone when Dogri was recognized as a national language and included in Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
Ironically, even after the inclusion of Dogri in 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution, the successive State Governments in Jammu and Kashmir didn’t patronize this language with the result that it continued to face step motherly treatment in the hands of those at the helm of affairs.
However, purported move of the present Coalition Government of introducing Kashmiri language in Colleges across Jammu, for which the Department of Higher Education has created 49 posts of Assistant Professor, is the most alarming development, which has dangerous and far reaching consequences.
Dogri Sanstha Jammu is very right in its observation that the move is a deep-rooted conspiracy to establish hegemony of Kashmir in the land of Dogras besides creating an impression across the world that entire State of J&K is a land of Kashmiri speaking people.
Even as the State Government may come out with a clarification that it has no such intentions and there is no formal order so far on introducing Kashmir Language as subject in the colleges across Jammu division, the creation of 49 additional posts of Assistant Professor in Kashmiri Language is self explanatory and exposes the hidden agenda of the authorities at the helm of affairs.
In view of the fact that there are only 47 Government Degree College in Valley and in maximum of them, Kashmiri language is already being taught with sufficient number of teachers, the Department of Higher Education has no logic behind creation of such a big number of additional posts for Kashmiri Language. What were the parameters on the basis of which such a large number of Kashmiri language posts have been created for Jammu region? Which Government body or committee has evaluated their parameters before coming at such a drastic conclusion and who has decided that no new posts of Dogri are required for this region, which is predominantly Dogras?”
To mislead the Jammu people, who are up in arms against the Government move, the authorities in Higher Education Department may also order creation of a few posts of Assistant Professor for Dogri in the next few days.
However, a quick comparison between the number of posts for Kashmiri Language and for Dogri will be enough to understand the State Government’s step motherly treatment with the mother tongue of Dogras. Presently, Dogri is being taught in only 19 Colleges, out of 46, across Jammu division. For teaching Dogri in these 19 colleges, there are only 9 Assistant Professors while in rest of the ten, temporary teachers have been engaged for the purpose.
Gone are the days when Jammu was considered as second fiddle and there were no takers of Dogra pride. The change in socio-political situation here can be well gauged from the fact that even National Conference and Congress leaders are also vociferously taking up the issue of discrimination with Dogras and Dogri.
Despite the fact that the young generation in the city speaks less Dogri because of changed environment of schooling, Jammu people are fully aware of the fact that maintaining the languages of Dogra land is critical for the preservation of their cultural heritage and identity. The loss of language is part of the loss of whole cultures and knowledge systems, including philosophical systems, oral literary, important cultural practices and artistic skills.
Jammu people are not against Kashmir or Kashmiri language but they have been only voicing concern for their mother language, which is facing discrimination in hands of the State Government. J&K State is a mini India because of its multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-lingual societies and therefore, maintaining the languages of ethnic and cultural groups is critical for the preservation of cultural heritage and identity of all the permanent residents here. Whether it is Dogri or Kashmiri, no language should be imposed on other linguistic group for avoiding confrontation among the societies in J&K, which has already been facing unrest and turmoil for the last around three decades.
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel