4-8_we the sindhis

I am face to face with the grim reality that I have, of

late, dreaded the most. Our Sindhi language is

declared by UNESCO as an endangered language

among 196 endangered languages in India.

We need to wake up and do something soon and

something tangible to save our intangible heritage –

language, literature, culture, ethos and identity - from

perceptible attrition and possible extinction.

Don't you tell me that I didn't tell you! I have indeed

been telling everyone for over a decade that this was

what might happen to us unless 'We, the Sindhis' wake

up and speak in our mother language Sindhi in our

homes, learn it in our schools, use it in our day-to-day

conversation with each other, undaunted by the

dominance of the mainstream languages and market

forces.

It would be of no avail to continue to live in the make-

believe world of “all is well” on our language front

while our Sindhi language is languishing on the life-

support system supplied by the State-sponsored

Sindhi Language Academies and Language

Wake Up Call

We, the Sindhis....

We need to act before it is too late

to save our endangered Sindhi

language from extinction

TM

VOLUME - 11, ISSUE - 1 • JAN.-MAR., 20124 4

Dr. Nandlal Jotwani

Institutions, National Council for Promotion of

Sindhi Language; certain NGOs and certain public-

spirited personalities.

Where Have the Sindhi Speakers Gone

It is ironical that the language spoken by the

inheritors of the most ancient known civilization,

dating back to 2,500 and 1,500 years B.C., symbolized

by Moen-jo-Daro in Larkana, Sindh, which once was a

beacon of light to the world around us, is today

gasping for breath in independent India.

Today, the Sindhi language faces the formidable

challenge of attrition and extinction due to its ever

diminishing use in our homes, schools, in our

conversation among us, etc. It is , indeed, a matter of

grave concern that the Sindhi children do not speak in

Sindhi language in their homes nor do they opt for

Sindhi language in schools and colleges even as a

subject, let alone as a medium of instruction. Hence,

education in our community is generally imparted

through the medium of mainstream languages –

English and Hindi.

Mother Language in the School System

The induction of mother language in the school

system tends to make the language functionally

relevant, socially dynamic and culturally vibrant.

Article 29 of the Constitution of India provides

protection of interests of the minorities: Any section

of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any

part thereof having a distinct language script or

culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the

same. Article 30 of the Constitution of India provides

for right of the minorities to establish and administer

educational institutions: All minorities, whether

based on religion or language, shall have the right to

establish and administer educational institutions of

their choice. . Article 350 of the Constitution

envisages that every person shall be entitled to submit

a representation for the redress of any grievance to

any officer or authority of the Union or a State in any

of the languages used in the Union or in the State, as

the case may be. Article 350A of the Constitution: It

shall be the endeavour of every State and every local

authority within the State to provide adequate

facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the

primary stage of education to children belonging to

linguistic minority groups; and the President may

issue such directions to any State as he considers

necessary or proper for securing the provision of such

facilities.

In addition to the aforesaid Constitutional

Safeguards, a scheme has been worked out, based on

decisions arrived at various Conferences, from time to

time, which, briefly, envisages the following:

Instruction through Mother Language at Primary

level

Provisions should be made for imparting instruction

through the mother-tongue at the Primary stage by

appointing at least one teacher provided there are not

less than 40 pupils speaking that language in a School

and 10 such pupils in a Class.

Instruction through Mother Language at

Secondary Level

For the purpose of providing facilities for instruction

in mother-tongue of the linguistic minorities at the

Secondary stage of education, the Modern Indian

Languages mentioned in the VIIIth Schedule to the

Constitution as well as English should be used as

media of instruction, for which the minimum

strength of 60 pupils in the last four Classes and 15

pupils in each Class will be necessary. For the first four

years after the commencement of provision of

facilities, the strength of 15 in each class in which the

facilities are provided will be sufficient.

Advance Registration in Schools

The Schools need to provide for Advance registration

of applications from pupils desirous to have

instruction through minority languages at

Primary/Secondary levels. The advance registration

may be effective for a period of three months and the

same may cease a fortnight before the commencement

of a school year for Primary/Secondary stages of TM

VOLUME - 11, ISSUE - 1 • JAN.-MAR., 20125

education. Further, efforts should also be taken to

make necessary inter-school adjustments, at

Primary/Secondary levels wherever feasible, to help

the applicants registered in a particular school are

accommodated elsewhere for availing instruction

through minority language if there is insufficient

number of applicants for opening a new Section/Class

in that particular School of registration.

Text-books/Teachers in Minority Languages

The State Governments should endeavour to ensure

availability of textbooks/teachers to the learners of

the linguistic minorities. The Central Government

should also endeavour to prepare model text-books in

the minority languages for learners at the Primary and

Secondary stages of education.

Use of Minority Languages for Official Purposes

Where a linguistic minority constitutes a minimum of

15 per cent of the population of a particular

district/taluka/tehsil/municipally, the gist of

important Government notices, rules, and

publications should also be made available in minority

languages. At district level, where 60 per cent of the

population in a district uses a language other than the

official language of the State, that language should be

recognized as an additional official language in that

particular district. Recognition for this purpose

should be given ordinarily to the languages

ment ioned in the VIIIth Schedule to the

Constitution. At the State HQ, the translation

facilities may be set up for translation and publication

of the substance of important laws, rules, regulations,

etc., into minority languages in the district/ taluka/

tehsil/municipally, where a linguistic minority

constitutes a minimum of 15 per cent of population of

that particular constituency.

Dr. Nandlal Jotwani delivering the Key Note address at the Sindhi Sahitya

Sansthan, Government of Chhattisgarh, Raipur

TM


The Petitions/Representations for Redress of

Grievances

The petitions/representations for redress of

grievances, written in minority languages, should be

received and replied to in the same language, wherever

feasible.

Recruitment to State Services

Knowledge of the State's official language should not

be a pre-requisite for recruitment to the State services.

A test of proficiency in the State's official language

should be held after selection and before the end of

the period of probation.

Underutilized Resources for Want of

Takers in Sindhi Language

Today, we are in a situation where even

the available resources for protection and

promotion of Sindhi language and

culture remain underutilized for want of

learners, speakers and connoisseurs of

Sindhi language. Barring a few places, we

are not having sufficient number of

aspirants/applicants for learning through

Sindhi language in our Primary and

S e c o n d a r y S c h o o l s d e s p i t e t h e

constitutional and other safeguards

provided to a linguistic minority, which

we are. Today, we are in an unenviable situation where

there are not many readers of Sindhi literature,

thereby rendering its production and publication

economically unviable. Of course, the State-

sponsored language academies/ NCPSL/ Academic

Faculties are there for flogging this felling horse of

publication of literature in a scenario where the Sindhi

writers are the readers of Sindhi literature. Despite the

enabling constitutional provisions, our great Sindhi

community prefers to put their children in the

Schools that impart education through the medium of

the mainstream languages rather than our mother

language Sindhi. Such insensitivity is evidenced

among both the elderly and the youth of the Sindhi

language community. This phenomenon is fraught

with the risk of gradual loss of our ethos and identity

as a language community, especially after we bid 'good

bye' to our existing, diminishing section of the Sindhi

senior citizens, who speak, read and write in Sindhi

language.

In order to protect, preserve and promote our

'Sindhiyat' and the Sindhi language, we will do well to

use Sindhi language in our homes and schools, etc.,

without getting unduly apprehensive of alleged lack of

employment opportunities for the Sindhi language-

literate youth and without getting unduly daunted by

the dynamics of monoculturalism and market forces.

Dynamic Aspirations of Sindhi

Language Community

Of course, we need to recognize, in the

same breath, the dynamic aspirations of

our community, which has acquitted

itself commendably in spite of having

been uprooted in the unprecedented

partition and massive migration in the

challenging conditions. It largely goes to

the credit of 'We, the Sindhis' to have

skillfully converted the formidable

challenge into an opportunity to move

forward and progres s upwards ,

undaunted by lack of even the geographic

space in the map of independent India. The great

S i n d h i s h a v e s e v e r a l s u c c e s s s t o r i e s a n d

accomplishments in various fields of human

endeavour. The Sindhi community today is proud to

have made its niche and earned their pride of place on

the global entrepreneurship map by dint of its

indomitable will, pragmatic outlook, business acumen

and professionalism, leading to great vertical mobility

and heights of glory, even while striving to balance its

own identity against the aggressive market models of

development available in the mainstream languages.

'We, the Sindhis' are proud of our Sindhi origin and

civilization and are second to none in beauty, brains,

business and benevolence.

TM

VOLUME - 11, ISSUE - 1 • JAN.-MAR., 20127

D r. N a n d l a l J o t w a n i , National Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, Govt. of India, addressing the electronic and print media

TM


Loss of Supportive Environment Too Leads to

Loss of a Language

Language is a vehicle of communication. It is for

the native speakers to preserve, develop and enrich

this vital medium of communication through its

constant and creative use. I have observed many

parents speaking only in Hindi or English with

their children in the hope their children would

learn the mainstream languages, Hindi or English,

effortlessly. This trend slowly and imperceptibly

leads to the severe attrition of our Sindhi language.

The absence of the geographic space has

contributed to make our Sindhi language more

vulnerable to danger of attrition and extinction

owing to its declining use as we are scattered all

over India, and overseas, generally complacent

about the disturbing trend of disuse of our

language in the post-partition era of our scattered

existence and the dynamics of the knowledge-

oriented industry and entrepreneurship available

in the commercially viable mainstream languages.

Connecting Our Language with Our Livelihood

Having said that, it is also true that the new

generation, well-informed as it is, generally goes

by the 'language utility value' and 'language vitality

score', encompassing multiple factors like the

' language availability' in the present-day

knowledge society, which is marked by multimedia

and mass media - cinema, newspapers, television,

radio, etc. - monopolized by commercially and

culturally dominant mainstream languages. I am

optimistic about the Prasar Bharati taking up new

initiatives, including launching of new DD

channels, in due course of time, after the on-going

scheme of digitalization of the Doordarshan

network and services for upgrading its DTH

network is accomplished; and the issues of

resource crunch and staf f shortage are

appropriately addressed by, inter alia, filling up the

vacancies after formulation of the Recruitment

Boards and the Recruitment Regulations by the

Prasar Bharati. The Sindhi speaking population

seeks an appropriate DD Channel to promote and

propagate their culture on the Doordarshan

network.

We, therefore, need to connect our Sindhi language

to our livelihood and integrate our supportive

endeavour with the basic needs of rozi-roti in

order to ensure sustainable preservation and

promotion of our Sindhi language, literature and

heritage. While we have succeeded in induction of

the Sindhi language in the coveted IAS

Examination Written Test Patterns, it would be a

welcome idea to replicate this provision in the

State Civil Services, too.

It therefore enjoins upon 'We, the Sindhis' to

nurture our native language and pass it on to the

generations next, and thereby, save sindhiyat as we

owe it to our progeny what we inherited from our

ancestors. The Sindhi Centre in IGNOU, the

National Council for Promotion of Sindhi

Language; the nation-wide Sindhi Academies; the

Sindhi Departments in the Universities, together

with the NGOs/Trusts like the Institute of

Sindhology, etc., need to undertake, inter alia, the

development of suitable curricula for certificate,

d i p l o m a a n d d e g r e e , e t c . , S t u d y

Courses/Syllabi/Curriculum in Sindhi language;

the teaching and learning activities in Sindhi

language; the language maintenance programmes,

coordination of postgraduate studies, doctoral

research and resource development in Sindhi

language and literature.

Oh God! Give us the strength to respond to this

clarion call and do what we must, to save Sindhiyat

and protect our identity. Amen!

--------------------------------------------------------

The author holds the Constitutional Post of the

National Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities,

Government of India. The views expressed in this

article are purely his own personal, random

thoughts. Email: [email protected]

4-8_we the sindhis

Documents