Bhaderwahi language losing its sheen in Bhaderwah

TNN Bureau. Updated: 2/28/2017 3:01:55 PM Top Stories

Only 20- 30 per cent people speak native tongue, say researchers

BHADERWAH,FEB 28: Call it an influence of western culture or drifting away from one’s own culture, the people of Bhaderwah no longer prefer speaking the native language that once upheld the unique identity of this historical place . Historians and writers of Bhaderwah observe that only 20- 30 per cent of the population living in Bhaderwah speak the Bhaderwahi language. It hints towards the extinction of mother tongue . The trend of shunning the ancestral language in the Bhaderwah has particularly increased over the past half a decade, the experts opined.Interestingly, the state government despite all the assurances has failed to introduce Bhadewrahi language as a subject at the elementary level of schooling.No private school of the Bhaderwah inducted Bhaderwahi as an optional language after Urdu or Hindi.“The non-seriousness on the part of the local people in ensuring that Bhaderwahi language is to be taught across all the government or private schools has also contributed to gradual disappearance of the language from our cultural scenario,” commented Haresh Kumar , a Bhaderwahi poet . It is being observed that Bhaderwahi speaking community has been reduced to the old timers. Speaking the once profound language is considered as “pretty old fashioned” now.“The problem lies in every home where parents and other elders are hell bent on copying the western culture in terms of lifestyle and language. Kids these days are discouraged from talking in Bhaderwahi language by their parents and teachers considering it to be a matter of shame. This is what our society has come down to,” Mohd Ashraf Sheikh of Pranoo said.“In an age, where Europeans and Americans are reviving their culture by focusing on speaking their native languages, people of the Bhaderwah are moving away from their roots,” he added.. Experts say that although the English assumed the priority since it is universally spoken and written, but that should not have happened at the cost of giving up a traditional language.“Apparently, we are losing out on a treasure of literature and glorious history and the translation of these works is a huge concern now as we are left with a handful of linguists who specialise in Bhaderwahi language. They could translate these works in the English or any other language,”said Ranbhir Singh Manhas an renowned writer .


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