“Preserving the Kashmiri language is essential to maintaining cultural identity amidst modernization. Encouraging usage in daily life and supporting arts can foster pride and heritage.”
In the era of technology and new inventions we are forgetting our mother tongue, culture and legacy but touching new atmospheres of modernity, development in our culture does not mean to ignore the cultural heritage.We are in dire need to maintain and preserve our language heritage throughout the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir as it will not only preserve our identity but also reflects some legacy of our ancestors. Our mother tongue is Kashmiri and so many of us have Dogri, Gojri,Urdu or Hindi but exclusively want to discuss about the kashmiri language as majority of residents speaks the same language over the Chenab valley and Kashmir. Each and every language have its own glory and its speakers also have pride over it but in the passing era we are bidding farewell to our mother tongue language and in result we are focusing to develop a strong hold over other languages, as it seems that we are feeling fed up by using our mother tongue for speaking medium and we are not much better in writing the same language. By this time we have not lose much and can preserve our language through focusing over it, encouraging children to speak kashmiri language, whether by making it compulsory in institutions and allowing and enhancing children to speak.
“Due to new ideological developments and modernisation is on its way, we are feeling inferior to speak kashmiri and Academy of art, culture and languages can be proven beneficial. It is our responsibility to maintain and speak in kashmiri tongue, as it provides us an identity, respect and pride.”
However, by these some the following cited measures we can make our ‘Kashmiri’ language more known to our young generations as they fell inferiority to talk and discuss in Kashmiri. Some of the key points need to extend over stated boundaries to make every familiar of Kashmiri language are as follows:-
1. Encouraging children to speak in kashmiri at least at homes,it will develop a sense of familiarity with the mother tongue and by encouraging the new generation to speak kashmiri will create a sense of preserving each kashmiri cultural heritage whether language or art.
2. Need to encourage and support kashmiri language art like kashmiri poetry, traditional folk songs, sufi songs–which are mystic poetries of Sufi saints and poets of Kashmir. By adopting this,both the enjoyment, teachings of our sufi saints and our language can be preserved.You can prefer lyrics for listening as these teachings and poetries can be beneficial for knowledge.Moreover,by making interest in the kashmiri poetry and writing pieces more writers,poets and individuals prefer kashmiri language.
3. Government should set a platform for preserving cultural heritage, especially the kashmiri language. They can organise monthly speech or debate competitions, publish a monthly kashmiri magazine with wide publicity. As of now,they are publishing ‘Sheeraza’ but it need some boost and wide publicity by media and information department.
Footnote: Jammu and Kashmir’s majority of population speaks Kashmiri language and related dialects, as it is their mother tongue with the number of 6.8 million across the overall states of India. I am not endorsing everyone to speak kashmiri but it is necessary for all the residents to maintain our mother tongue because the upper belt of Chenab valley, Kashmir region speaks kashmiri. Due to new ideological developments and modernisation is on its way, we are feeling inferior to speak kashmiri and Academy of art, culture and languages can be proven beneficial. It is our responsibility to maintain and speak in kashmiri tongue, as it provides us an identity, respect and pride.
(The author is a freelancer and not a staffer of “Kashmir Horizon”. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
Ayaan Saroori
[email protected]
