Mother tongue is the identity of every species dwelling on earth. Humans, birds, and animals have their own native languages. A person kept in a dark room recognizes “Quail” for its Koo Koo “Meow Meow” identifies a cat. A blind person can identify things not by what he sees but by what he hears. Every native language has its own beauty. All countries in the world speak diverse languages and dialects. Our valley is not only praised for its marvelous beauty but also for its language “KOSHUR” which is woefully on the verge of becoming extinct. In olden times this language was spoken with purity and sweetness but today 50 percent of the population in our valley feels shame to speak this language. Our youth has been adapting to western cultures for decades as far as food, lifestyle, and dressing sense are concerned but it is heart-wrenching that some people are not fond of the Kashmiri language this is the reason it is diminishing with time. It is important to grasp every language to be able to communicate when outside the valley but does that mean one invalidates his mother tongue? The trend of speaking other languages and the reluctance for the Kashmiri language is seen more in youngsters.
Parents communicate with their children in English and Urdu especially mothers guide them to ignore “KOSHUR”. The people of the Valley can express their emotions in Kashmiri rather than speaking in another language. Old Kashmiri people guide us to keep our culture alive but the youth is so arrogant to hear their call. What we can do to boost our mother tongue is to make Kashmiri subjects compulsory in all Government and private schools. Furthermore, the Jammu & Kashmir academy of art, culture and language should come forward to conduct Kashmiri poetical symposiums, plays, and seminars so that our language will be fostered in every nook and corner of the Valley. If the Kashmiri language is not constantly spoken then chances are that the future generation will only find it only in books. We request the LG administration to encourage youth in keeping Kashmiri culture alive through a proper plan.
