International Mother Language Day 2022 celebrated to promote linguistic and cultural diversity

22 Feb,22 9:30 am
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International Mother Language Day (IMLD) 2022: International Mother Language Day 2022 was celebrated on February 21, 2022, across the globe.

Key Points:

  • IMLD is celebrated every year on February 21 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism around the world.
  • Also, to make people aware of how cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue can strengthen co-operation and provide a quality education for all.
  • In India, the day is observed as Matribhasha Diwas.
  • The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is conducted a webinar to celebrate International Mother Language Day 2022.

Theme OF IMLD 2022:

The theme of International Mother Language Day 2022 is “Using technology for multilingual learning: Challenges and opportunities”.

It highlights the potential role of technology to advance multilingual education and support the development of quality teaching and learning for all.

History:

  • The international mother language day was an initiative of Bangladesh.
  • IMLD was approved by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization or UNESCO in 1999.
  • The day is celebrated every year since 2000.
  • The UN General Assembly welcomed the proclamation of the day in its resolution of 2002.
  • On 16 May 2007 the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/61/266 called upon Member States "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world".
  • By the same resolution, the General Assembly proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages, to promote unity in diversity and international understanding, through multilingualism and multiculturalism and named the UNESCO to serve as the lead agency for the Year.

Significance of the day:

  • The IMLD is part of a broader initiative to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by people of the world.
  • The day signifies how an intergovernmental body like UNESCO believes in the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity for sustainable societies.
  • It is also significant for raising awareness of disappearance of languages across the world.
  • At least 43 percent of the estimated 6000 languages spoken in the world are endangered.
  • As per UN reports, 40 percent of the population worldwide does not have access to education in a language they understand or speak.

Matribhasha Divas:

India celebrated Matribhasha Divas as a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav on 21 February 2022.

Mother Tongues in India:

  • As per 2011 census, India has 234 identifiable mother tongues, 121 languages.
  • The eighth schedule of the Indian constitution consists of 22 languages.
  • The census data is divided into two parts -
  • Part A that comprises the 22 languages specified in the constitution and
  • Part B that comprises those languages that are not mentioned in the schedule.
  • A total of 123 mother tongues are grouped in scheduled languages category and 147 mother tongues are grouped under non-scheduled languages.
  • Almost every Indian language falls into one of the four groups:
  • Afro-Asiatic,
  • Dravidian,
  • Indo-Aryan, and
  • Sino-Tibetan.
  • Some of the widely known mother tongues in India include Punjabi,  Hindi, Rajasthani, Haryanvi, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Urgu, Telugu, Konkani, Awadhi, Assamese, Manipuri, Kannada, Odia, Gujarati and Sindhi.

Note: Because of their history and having stood the test of time, languages like Tamil, Sanskrit, Malayalam, Odia, and Telugu have honoured the status of the classical language.

  • Other scheduled mother tongues in India include Bhojpuri, Garhwali, Marathi, Chhattisgarhi, Marwari, Maithili, Dogri, Pahari, and Sambalpuri.
  • Some of the non-scheduled mother tongues category include Gujari, Sherpa, Kinnauri, Afghani, English, Baori, Arabic, Khariya,  Tulu, Mao and Monpa.
  • The Constitution of India designates English and Hindi as the official languages of the Government of India.
  • However, as per Article 343 (1) of the Indian Constitution, it is only the Hindi written in Devanagari Script that is accepted as the official language of the Union Government.
  • The Supreme Court and High Court use English as their official language as directed by the Constitution of India.

Note: Nearly all Indian scripts come from the same script named Brahmi and most of the major Indian epics were written in Sanskrit!


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