International Mother Language Day

As you may know, yesterday was International Mother Language day, which has been an annual event for 14 years. It was set up by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to promote multilingualism and multiculturalism across the world.

As written on the United Nations International Mother Language Day website:

'Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.'

The date was chosen to recognise students who were shot by police in Dhaka, 21^st February 1952, whilst they were protesting to have their language, Bengali, recognised. Four years prior to their demonstrations, President Muhammad Ali Jinnah declared Pakistan’s official language to be Urdu, although at the time, Urdu was a minority language only spoken by the elite. Their protests were the start of the Language Movement of Pakistan, and this was a crucial point in Pakistan’s history since in February 1956, the Pakistan government made Bengali the second official language. The protests also caused a surge in Bengali Nationalism, leading to Bangladesh becoming independent from Pakistan. Yesterday in Bangladesh, Language Martyr’s day was celebrated where many areas were decorated by the Bengali alphabet and walked to the Shaheed Minar to pay tribute to their heroes.  

Here are some tributes in other countries:

China

News reporters widely published the fact that 24 languages die out annually. This was very had hitting in China since around 60% of their ethnic languages are endangered. Keeping these languages is crucial to pass on their history and culture. In order to preserve this, linguistics shave created electronic translation software for 7 of the 53 ethnic languages which will help them to communicate online and to teach the language to others as people who do not live in the same area are now able to learn it. To mark IMLD, a programme called ‘Voice for Ethnic People’ was aired on the national radio which was broadcast in many small languages. Li Xulian, the Director of Translation Bureau of Ethnic Languages, states the importance of this because "if someone from an ethnic group hears their mother tongue on the radio, it means a lot to them.”

 Canada

The mother tongue of over 20% of Canadians is neither English nor French, therefore it is a very multilingual and multicultural country. According to a recent census, 60 indigenous languages are spoken in Canada, although they have very little support and many are likely to become extinct before the next century. Inhabitants believe that the reason why their mother tongue is in danger of extinction is because English is being forced on them by the education system. Therefore the message of IMLD in Canada should be to fight to preserve these indigenous languages.  

Each year, the International Mother Language Day has a specific theme to give focus and relevant aims. For example, in 2002, the day had the slogan ‘In the galaxy of languages, every word is a star’, showing the importance and beauty of every language. This year, the theme was “local languages for global citizenship: spotlight on science”. As quoted by Irina Bokova, the Director General of UNESCO:

"Local languages constitute the majority of languages spoken across our world in the field of science. They are also the most endangered. Excluding languages means excluding those who speak them from their fundamental human right to scientific knowledge."

To conclude, the heroic protesters in Dhaka and everyone still fighting to preserve their mother tongue need to be recognised, and what a better way than having a campaign specifically for them? Let’s hope that yesterday has spread awareness and shown how important our mother language really is.