Punjabi: keeping faith in mother tongue
Gobind Thukral

THERE is worrisome news about the demise of the languages in this era of globalisation. One language seems to be dominating, obliterating languages, dialects and cultures in the process. Mortality rate of languages and more particularly of dialects worldwide is very high. In April 2002 a UNESCO report had said, “Out of Kenya's 42 indigenous languages, 16 of them have either become extinct or are seriously endangered.
 

At the end of 20th century the globe retained a rich linguistic heritage of an estimated 6,000 languages. Some placed the figure as low as 3,000 or as high as 10,000. The current wealth of languages world-wide is under serious threat for a variety of reasons. Experts tell us that vitality of a language depends not only on the number of speakers but on a range of factors that impact on language choice. There are more native speakers of Chinese across the globe, but English is the global language. Initially it was military barracks that forced an imperialist language on the people. English, French and Persian are some examples. Now the emergence of English as the global language has been for other critical factors; commerce, industry, technology, media, communication, the Internet, the arts, cinema and popular music. 

Add to this the unbridled desire to associate with whatever is American and to espouse English. Finally we may end up as some scholars warn about language imperialism with 96 percent of the world's populations speaking 4 percent of the world's languages or 4 percent speaking 96 percent of the world's languages.
Acts of imperialists had a detrimental effect on languages historically world over. The ruler decided as Punjabis know well the linguistic preference. This has often been underwritten by policy designed to marginalise or eradicate the languages. In some cases, genocide has been the order of the day, yet government policy to ban usage of minority languages has also been very effective. The resultant abolition of hundreds of languages - came about through acts of colonialism. But the current threat to linguistic diversity arises from other potent factors. The net result, linguistically: around 50% of the globe's 6,000 languages could disappear during this century.
 

Further, the stark reality is that some of these languages remain 'alive' only as long as the last sole speaker of the language is alive. So in some cases the death of an individual could mean the death of yet another language. This was the situation for 51 of the world's languages, with 28 being in Australia. It is stated one language is disappearing on average every two weeks. This is indeed calamitous as we believe that the loss of even one language is dreadful. 


This would make any Punjabi sit up and worry, particularly when we see around that it is English and at the second place Hindi that is becoming the lingua franca of our young generations. These are the Sufi singers and pop music along with rap and bhangra dancers that keep Punjabi alive. Ironically in a gurudwara in Chandigarh, when ragis sing hymns from the Gurbani, its translation in English along with Roman and Gurmukhi scripts appear on the screen to make the young generation appreciate Gurbani.
 

Recently Punjab Assembly passed a unanimous resolution initiated by a Congress legislator Ajit Singh Mofar through a call attention motion that Punjab government should take appropriate measures to see that Punjabi is used as an official language in letter and spirit and make its teaching compulsory till 10th class. Clearly all is not well with this language of the people. There may not be another example of a state legislature passing a resolution to see an official language for which there was prolonged agitation, at times violent is to be implemented. Is it not a fact that Punjabi is a language, well recognised by the Indian constitution with its more than 30 different dialects spread across a vast geographical area. So why this resolution and the later promised ordinance that would make those who persist neglecting it suffer cuts in salary or other harsh punishments. Where have we come to see that a well recognised rich language is dishonoured and killed in this manner?
 

Punjabi is among the top 20 languages of the world, spoken by 104 million people spread in Hindustani and Pakistani Punjab, in Jammu, Kangra, Kullu and large parts of Himachal, more than half of Haryana, three major districts of Rajasthan, Delhi and many other states including western Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand. It is the fourth spoken language in Canada; it has sizeable presence in America, England and Australia besides Dubai. Travel to the western hemisphere, the number of flourishing Punjabi newspapers, magazines, radio stations and television networks are surprising. Many of these may not be of high standard, yet they are there. New information technology and Internet has shortened the distances and cut down geographic barriers. How could such visible, powerful language with its rich literature and lore die.
 

Yet there are compelling reasons for those who wish it to flourish and become richer by the day to worry. Unfortunately the language issue has been communalised. Its own children have been discarding it. How do languages grow and become rich. There are many reasons. The most notable is the intellectual level of its users; those who write and those who consume that writing as readers. Second is the state patronage; official status. It is English first and later Hindi or was as Urdu earlier, Punjabi was considered the language of the uncouth and the illiterate. Do we have writers who live by their pen? How do the writers survive and find time to write is a miracle. Many of them pay from their own pockets for the books they get published. Some of the writing is also of very poor quality. Sometimes it is Hindi written in Gurmukhi script. Punjabi was never except the last some years the language of government communication, not even during the Khalsa Raj of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Its poets and singers and its kathakars helped it survive as the language of the people.
 

If we view the present effort by the entire political class of Punjab, it is a sign of good times for this much neglected language. But this alone would not produce world class literature. It would be some babu Punjabi, most of Hindi in Gurmukhi scrip. Can we think of a time when scientists could research using Punjabi as medium? Or doctors could learn and teach in this language. Or could we have serious discourses in philosophy and social sciences. It is English and not even Hindi that dominates. The reasons are not difficult to fathom. Commerce, industry, technology, media, communication, the Internet, the arts, cinema and popular music is English oriented. Out of the total circulation of newspapers in Punjab and Chandigarh, Hindi newspapers are number one, followed by English and Punjabi papers are number three.
 

And worst, Punjabi is poorly taught in our schools these days. I remember recruiting some young men and women for a Punjabi daily last year and those who were M.A in Punjabi with good marks made horrible mistakes of spellings, grammar and syntax and their lack of knowledge of public affairs was appalling.

BACK TO APNA WEB PAGE