The debate over demanding classical status to the Kashmiri language is getting louder with the scores of literati and literary organisations raising their voices and submitting their memorandum to the government.
According to Kashmiri language experts, Kashmir has not only preserved its folk tradition but also has enriched and modified it in every age. It represents many aspects of social change, behaviour patterns, hopes, repressed wishes, creative thoughts, unconscious yearnings and collective dreams. “Language is the most important aspect of any culture. If it dies, you lose your identity,” Zaheer Abbas Dardistani, a filmmaker said. Zaheer, who documents various cultural aspects through the medium of films in Kashmir and Kargil, said that, with the onslaught of western influence, the traditional languages In Jammu and Kashmir are facing extinction. “We shouldn’t be just waiting for the authorities to declare any language its special status but we as professionals have this responsibility to come forward and contribute our products for the next generations to come.”
President, Adbee Markaz Kamraz (AMK), an amalgam of literary organizations in Jammu and Kashmir, Amin Bhat; told Greater Kashmir that the memorandum for the declaration of Kashmiri as a classical language has been submitted to the government of Jammu and Kashmir. He said that notwithstanding the fact that memorandums are not considered to be very attractive documents, this one must definitely catch the eye of the government. He said that Adbee Markaz Kamraz, which is the oldest and the largest cultural and literary organisation of Jammu and Kashmir is focused on promoting and preserving Kashmiri culture, literature, art and Kashmiri language in particular.
“This memorandum is going to catch the attention of the authorities as it is in tune with the admirable policy of the present administration of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, as demonstrated by it while according to the official language status of the Kashmiri language,” Bhat told Greater Kashmir.
He said that time and again, several literary organisations, poets, writers and activists in their personal capacities have been raising the issue and demanding the classical language to the Kashmiri language.
“Our organisation has been pursuing the cause of promotion and preservation of the Kashmiri language for the past half a century and is appreciative of the response of the authorities regarding different demands put forth by it,” Bhat said. However, he said that an important issue pertaining to the declaration of Kashmiri as a classical language is pending disposal for decades.
According to the AMK office bearers, a detailed Right to Information (RTI) was submitted in this regard to seek information about the status from the government side. They informed that as per the documents sought by the organisation under RTI, the commission constituted vide Govt order No 28 -Cul of 2011 dated 20.12.2011 submitted its report in Aug 2014, which was submitted to the Commissioner Secretary to Government of Tourism and Culture by J&K Cultural Academy, vide ACL/2014-15 /3714 dated 27 .08 14.
“This is very strange that ever since this important matter pertaining to us has not proceeded further despite repeated representations by the literary organisations, activists and other writers,” Bhat said. “In our several general and annual meetings, our demands were put forth with the authorities. We only hope that a detailed view is taken in this regard and the long pending issue is addressed at the earliest.”
Kashmiri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by around 7 million Kashmiris of the Kashmir region, especially in the Kashmir region, and Chenab belt of the Jammu region. According to linguistics, Persian began to be used as the court language in Kashmir during the 14th century, under the influence of Islam. It was replaced by Urdu in 1889 during the Dogra rule. In 2020, Kashmiri became an official language in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the first time. Kashmiri is closely related to Poguli and Kishtwari, which are spoken in the mountains to the south of the Kashmir Valley and have sometimes been counted as dialects of Kashmiri.
It may be recalled that the Parliament of India, passed a bill in 2020 to make Kashmiri an official language of Jammu and Kashmir along with Dogri, Hindi, Urdu and English. Kashmiri is also among the 22 scheduled languages of India. The Kashmiri language is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. It was a part of the eighth Schedule in the former constitution of Jammu and Kashmir. Along with other regional languages mentioned in the Sixth Schedule and Hindi and Urdu, the Kashmiri language was to be developed in the erstwhile state. Kashmiri, as also the other Dardic languages, shows important divergences from the Indo-Aryan mainstream.
They informed that certain features in Kashmiri even appear to stem from Indo-Aryan even predating the Vedic period.
The Kashmiri language was in the beginning greatly influenced by the Sanskrit language, but with the coming of the Muslims and rulers like Zainu’l-Abedin, it began to accept the influence of Persian which was the language of the rulers. Kashmiri vocabulary can be broadly categorized into Kashmiri, Dardic, Sanskrit, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Persian, and Arabic origins.
“Now that the present administration of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is all out to promote the Kashmiri Language, we are highly hopeful that submitting this memorandum with some demands will bring back the focus on the long pending concern,” Bhat said. “This memorandum shall be considered on its merits to send around the message that the promotion and preservation of Kashmiri language are on the top agenda of the government.”
Like Bhat, several other language activists, scholars and literary personalities have appealed to Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, to recommend their demand to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Classical Language status for the Kashmiri language. “I remember poets like Rahman Rahi used to tirelessly work for the classical status of the Kashmiri language,” former broadcaster and DDG, Doordarshan, Rafiq Masoodi, told Greater Kashmir. “We must work really hard on getting this status to our language. It will be a tribute to all those literary stars like Rahi, Kamil, Mir, Gowhar, and a galaxy of other writers, who have worked immensely for the preservation and promotion of the language,” he added.
According to officials at the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, the status is accorded by the Central Government and it has specific criteria and a process. There are several benefits of the status for the Kashmiri language and state concerned as well. They informed that some basic criteria include high antiquity of its early texts, recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years, a body of ancient literature, texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers, the literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community, and the classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there may be a discontinuity between the classical language and the later forms of its offshoots.
“The Kashmiri language meets all these criteria and the language must be granted this status so that more and more is done on all the aspects of the language,” Masoodi said.
Why classical status?
Language activists said that a classical language is a language with an independent literary tradition and a large and ancient body of written literature. Classical languages are typically dead languages or show a high degree of diglossia, as the spoken varieties of the language diverge further away from the classical written language over time.
Literati believe that the benefits of obtaining this status are that the Government of India awards a grant of Rs. 100 to Rs 500 crores for the development of the language. The University Grants Commission (UGC) gives funds for the language to be taught in 350 universities in the country.
“The classically designated language receives recognition at the global level thereby making it more prestigious,” president AMK said, adding “The official recognition leads to a global demand for the literature in the language. The doors to a vast, global market for the language are thrown open. Translation jobs in and from this language are created.”
Pertinently, the Government of India has awarded this status to six Indian languages: Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Oriya. Tamil was declared the classical language back in 2004. As per Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India, 22 languages have been recognised as Scheduled languages.
Notably, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti had become the first member of parliament to take oath in the Kashmiri language on the floor of Parliament in Delhi. Her decision was hailed by the literati and it immediately struck a chord with linguistic groups in the Kashmir region. Earlier the trend of taking an oath in Kashmiri was also recorded on the floor of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.