On Sunday, the Nepal Academy organised a poem recital programme on the occasion of the International Mother Language Day (IMLD). While organising the programme is a nice symbolic gesture, a lot more needs to be done to safeguard and promote the large number of languages spoken in the country. President Bidhya Devi Bhandari said that the languages of the country are part of its national heritage and that it is the responsibility of the state to preserve and promote them.  Poems in 53 national languages were recited during the programmme. 

February 21 has been observed as the IMLD every year worldwide since 2000 to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity after an announcement by the Unesco to that effect the previous year. The date marks the day in 1952 when students demonstrating to demand the recognition of Bengali as one of the two national languages of East Pakistan were shot dead in Dhaka. For 2016, the Unesco has chosen ‘Quality education, language(s) of instruction and learning outcomes’ as its theme. 

Instruction in one’s mother tongue enhances understanding, particularly during a child’s formative years of learning. It facilitates communication between the teachers and the students. So the constitutional provision of mother-tongue instruction in the primary level is an important achievement not only from the point of view of minority linguistic rights but also from that of educational development. However, the fact that not many schools in the country have the resources to impart education in multiple languages makes the provision difficult to implement.  The state, therefore, needs to allocate more funds to this end. 

But it may be unrealistic to expect much from a state that is not only poor, but more frustratingly, one that has been reluctant to show sensitivity to minority issues. Hence, private schools should also play a part in incorporating linguistic diversity in their curriculum. It is also necessary for the native speakers of various languages to care for their mother tongues. It would help if minority-language speakers of means pool recourses to establish centers to preserve and promote their languages. 

Of the 123 languages spoken in the country according to the 2011 census, the Unesco has listed some like Kusunda as critically endangered. The census shows that there are only 273 speakers of Kusunda left. The country has already lost many languages and more will become extinct soon if things continue as they have. When a language is lost, so are the tradition, knowledge and history of the people who used that language. It is imperative, therefore, for the state to take urgent steps to preserve and promote endangered as well as other minority languages, as they form the rich heritage of the country.