GS- 2: Governance, Social Justice
Keywords: International Domain Names, Multilingual, Cultural Diversity
Why in News:
- State Government of Karnataka has issued an order (GO) in August 2021 stating that undergraduate students should learn Kannada as one of the two languages from the 2021-2022 academic year.
- The State government has argued that this is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) of 2020, which states that “in order to preserve and promote culture, one must preserve and promote a culture’s languages”.
- Presently, the matter is now before the Karnataka High Court, with the Samskrita Bharati (Karnataka) Trust and three other institutions challenging the GOs.
Regional Language (ARTICLE 345-347)
- The legislature of a state may adopt any one or more of the languages in use in the state or Hindi as the official language of that state.
- The Official Languages Act (1963) lays down that English should be used for purposes of communication between the Union and the non-Hindi states. Further, where Hindi is used for communication between a Hindi and a non-Hindi state, such communication in Hindi should be accompanied by an English translation.
- When the PRESIDENT OF INDIA (on a demand being made) is satisfied that a substantial proportion of the population of a state desires the use of any language spoken by them to be recognized by that state, then he may direct that such language shall also be officially recognized in that state.
- Article 350A and 350 B was inserted by the 7Th Constitution Amendment Act 1956 to ensure the protection of language minorities.
Need for preserving Local Language in India:
- Cultural Identity: For individuals, language is constitutive of cultural identity. We are what we speak. Any destruction to language impact identity of individuals leading to identity crisis. This impact their ability to grow and develop as an individual.
- Cultural Diversity: Diversity in languages reflects and enhances cultural diversity. This in turn enriches the world. Unwritten languages rich in oral traditions, stories, songs, poetry, and ritual passed down through the generations constitute cultural diversity of a nation.
- Human rights: Since language is central to identity, one’s freedom to use one’s language is seen as inherent in the dignity of the human person. Many people don’t know English and thus fail to enjoy rights provided due to lack of understanding.
- A glimpse of our past: Languages provides a glimpse of our history. Once a language is lost it is a loss of history and culture associated with that language. Many languages have not been preserved and thus many traditions have lost due to this.
- Environment: Languages are closely connected to the environment they are spoken in, so in such areas they contain rich, detailed and technical knowledge about the flora, fauna, and habitat of that area. These languages are ecological encyclopedias. The biological diversity and linguistic diversity go hand in hand. If one is threatened, then so is the other.
- Cognitive abilities: Research has shown a strong correlation between improved cognitive abilities in children when they are taught in their mother tongue in primary school. If a child is not taught in the language that he or she uses at home, then he suffers poor learning and critical abilities.
Measures to preserve linguistic diversity:
- Engage indigenous people: To realize the rights and aspirations of indigenous people, it would be necessary that the government should engage and support indigenous people in determining their own development through policies that are inclusive, equitable and accessible.
- Education: About 8% of Indian population belongs to tribal communities. Their identity and culture is linked with their languages. The only way to ensure that these languages do not become extinct from this multilingual country is to give them their place in school education for at least 5 to 8 years as a language. This could be achieved making special provisions for regions/districts where the tribal and minor language population is concentrated.
- Promoting universal acceptance for international domain names: According to UNESCO, Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) can help to foster the growth of local languages online by allowing Internet users to use non-Latin scripts to access domain names. IDNs which consist of characters from non-Latin scripts form a vital part of the ecosystem necessary to foster the growth of local languages online.
- Awareness: The internet can be used to raise awareness about the issues of language extinction and language preservation. It can be used to translate, catalog, store, and provide information and access to languages. New technologies such as podcasts can be used to preserve the spoken versions of languages, and written documents can preserve information about the native literature and linguistics of languages.
Conclusion:
- Languages are how we communicate, and they are inextricably linked to our cultures, histories and identity. Almost half of the world’s estimated 6,700 languages, which are mostly indigenous, risk extinction. With every language that disappears, the world loses a wealth of traditional knowledge.
- In recent years the language diversity is under threat as speakers of diverse languages are becoming rare and major languages are adopted after abandoning the mother tongues. The problem needs to be addressed at societal level, in which the communities have to take part in conservation of language diversity that is part of cultural wealth.
Prelims Question:
Q. International Domain Names recently in news is related to which organization?
A.UNESCO
B.WTO
C.WHO
D.UNGA
Answer A
Mains Question:
Q. Local language leads to the overall cognitive development of the child,
in this reference discuss the importance of Local language along with legal and
constitutional principles?
Sources:
