Linguistic Revolution in Nepal

“Minister refused to take the oath in Nepali.” You must have read this headline, I did too. After I read the argument and counter arguments; I wondered whether it was a cheap publicity stunt or a genuine voice of protest for the ethnic society(s). the more I was analyzing the issue, more I wanted to excavate. I have taken the Minister’s remark as a protest against the dominance of Nepali language (Khas Bhasa) on other ethnic languages.

During Medieval Nepal (present day Kathmandu Valley), Nepal Bhasa( present day Newari) was the official language of Nepal, and after Shah dynasty ascended to Nepalese throne Khas(present day Nepali) and Nepal Bhasa was used along one another as the official language. During Rana Regime in 1905 AD, Nepali was made the official language of Nepal and banned the official use of any other language other than Nepali. This is when the suppression of other ethnic languages by the dominance of the Nepali language began which also meant suppression over other the ethnic culture and heritage of Nepal.

The UN in one of its declaration of rights mentions “Minorities have the right to enjoy their own language, in private and in public, freely and without interference or any form of discrimination.” Nepal being a member of the UN clearly is not following the UN’s principles. Similarly, even though Nepal’s 1990 Constitution recognizes its multi lingual character in 1998, when two municipal corporations, namely Kathmandu and Janakpur wanted to use two official language, Nepali and their own ethnic language ( Nepal Bhasa for Kathmandu and Maithali for Janakpur), the Supreme Court was adamant in its decision on prohibiting the use of any language other than Nepali as an official language in the respective municipal corporation. Since then Nepal Bhasa movement merged with the other languages’ movements to fight for the right of their ethnic language.

In my view, language and culture are the soul of any society, without which its identity is lost. We Nepalese say we are proud of our diversity but at the same time we allow the dominance of one language over others which is just an act of hypocrisy. Our Constitution says all language should be treated equally but our government institutions run high on partiality. For example the state run media, be it broadcasting or print, should have programs and articles on regional languages. Since the state run media reaches the entire nation and so it should encourage the use of regional. Nepal being so diverse in its ethnicity has people who cannot understand Nepali and so providing them information in their own regional language would mean the citizens being able to exercise their right to information.

Education is the key to any revolution, if we need to bring a change in our NEPAL we have to change our Education System. Thus, the Education board should also consider having regional language as an optional subject. As studies show that we learn better in our mother tongue*, if education medium is in the regional language, the students are then capable of better understanding what is being taught. In doing that we can also have better scholars in our society, as we tend to pursue what we like and understand better.

Allowing two languages to be used as an official language not only creates harmony among the diverse population of Nepal, but also it helps us to preserve our long heritage and culture. There are high chances of these languages getting extinct, as the next generation is not getting chance to write and communicate in the regional language. In the long run, it’s inevitable that our heritage and our culture will die out. How can we think of preserving our history when we cannot even write and speak in our own mother tongue?

History has proof that, minorities wages war against the majority, just because they were not acknowledged. If you deprive somebody from their identity, they will retaliate back. Self-IDENITY is the ultimate goal of most of the life form present in this world. We can examine this face by taking into account of how the Maoists in Nepal got tremendous support from rural part of the country during their arms struggle, and at present how the Terai uprising is shaping up. People will die to preserve their identity and to get acknowledged. We should learn our lesson and to address this issue wisely we should “Acknowledge” their presence. We must understand that this acknowledgement will not only help us preserve our culture and heritage, but at same time allow us to live in peace and harmony without any thoughts of segregation.

*

http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=20280&URL_DO=DO_PRINTPAGE&URL_SECTION=201.html

Source

http://www.unesco.org/most/lnlaw7.htm

http://www.wikipedia.org/