India
is a land of linguistic diversity and the languages differ in their dialects
every 100 kms. There have been many arguments and dissatisfaction over having a
single national language (Hindi) for entire country.
Mother
Tongue is vital to preserve India’s cultural diversity and heritage:
1) Mother tongue is the very first
language that one hears, understands and gets familiar with. Thus, it plays
important role in shaping feelings, emotions and thought processes.
2) Use of mother language helps one
in getting comfortable with his/her cultural identity.
3) Maintaining mother languages is
necessary for preserving cultural heritage and identity.
4) Dissemination of mother languages
encourages linguistic diversity, thus inspires solidarity based on
understanding, tolerance, and dialogue.
India alone has about 22 officially
recognized languages, 1635 mother tongues, and 234 identifiable mother tongues.
Challenges faced in preserving mother
languages:
1) According to the UN, every two
weeks, a language disappears and the world loses an entire cultural and
intellectual heritage.
2) At least 43% of the estimated 6000
languages spoken in the world are endangered.
3) Only a few hundred languages have
been genuinely given a place in education systems and public domain. Also, 40%
of the global population does not have access to education in a language they
speak or understand.
4) Less than a hundred languages are
used in the digital world.
5) Apart from globalization, rush for
learning foreign languages for better job opportunities is a major reason
behind the disappearance of mother languages.
Countries like France, Germany, Italy,
China have developed their mother languages as a powerful medium. Other
countries need to learn from these to preserve their cultural and linguistic
identity.
The Vice president of India recently
said that mother tongue vital for survival of civilisation and every country
must encourage their children to study primarily in the mother tongue.