Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 18: Gujjar intellectuals, writers of 12 states/UTs including the UT of Jammu and Kashmir today pledged to work together for recognition of Gojri at the national level.
In a national webinar organized by ‘Gurjar Samrat Mehar Bhoj Trust, Uttar Pradesh’, the Gujjar community members discussed the issues related to “Gujjar Society and Politics accords India’ on virtual mood and decided to push the case for the inclusion of Gojri- their mother tongue in the list of official languages of India.
Noted Tribal Researcher Dr Javaid Rahi represented Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir in the said event. In his address, he made an extensive appeal to Gujjars of India to enter Gojri as their Mother tongue in all the records. He suggested formulation of a committee of Gujjar community MPs, senior writers, poets and intellectuals which will work for the recognition of Gojri at the National level as it is a main component of Gujjar identity and culture.
Rahi said that Gojri is the oldest and significant language of India and undoubtedly deserves recognition at the National level. He said Gujjars, the main speakers of Gojri, mainly live in 12 states of North-Western India, listed as Scheduled Tribes in J&K and Himachal Pradesh, some areas of Gujarat and OBCs in 10 other states.
He said Gojri fulfills almost all the criteria being fixed by Language Department of Union Ministry of Home Affairs for inclusion of a language in the official languages list. “Gojri is a very rich language in terms of literature, folk-lore, History and linguistically as hundreds of books are available in Gojri across India,” he added.
Rahi said at present, there are demands for the inclusion of 38 more languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and Gojri also figures in waiting list.
Others who spoke include Dr Kamal Singh (Sociologist), Dr Isam Singh Badhana, Dr Susheel Bhati, Dr Rakesh Rana, Dr Ranveer Singh, Himanshu Tomar and Rama Gurjar.
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