Promote indigenous languages

As we commemorate our right to express ourselves in our mother tongue this Ekushey, we observe with concern the state of indigenous languages in the country. In the Amar Ekushey Granthamela, for instance, there are no books written in indigenous languages. This absence can be attributed to an inequitable state policy and minimum interest of mainstream publishers in promoting indigenous literatures; it also speaks of a larger problem of our minority languages being pushed to the margins.

Ekushey upholds the right of all to communicate in their mother tongues. The primary purpose of Unesco's proclamation of Ekushey as International Mother Language Day is 'promoting and preserving linguistic and cultural diversity and multiculturalism.' It is, therefore, unfortunate that many minority languages have become extinct and/or endangered partly due to neglect.

Though our constitution guarantees the right to study in one's own mother tongue, Bengali still remains the language of instruction in all government educational institutions in Bangladesh. This is a significant cause for the high drop-out and low enrolment rate of children in the CHT and of other indigenous groups in the country. No government has made any serious effort to provide primary education to indigenous children in their mother languages, which is stipulated in the Parbatta Zila Parishad Act 1989 and CHT Peace Accord 1997.

The initiative to publish primary textbooks in six national languages in January 2014 was noteworthy, but it is yet to be implemented.

If we are to remain true to the spirit of Ekushey, we have to seriously commit to protecting, preserving and promoting the mother-tongues of the non-Bengali populations.