Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, March 30: A four-day National Language Conference organised by the Institute of Oriya Studies and Research that began Monday dwelled on steps that needed to be taken in order to address the existential crisis that the Oriya language and other tribal languages of the state are faced with.
The theme of the seminar was to make Oriya the language of knowledge and development. The seminar was organised in collaboration with the tourism and culture departments and was also supported by the Human Development Foundation Centre for Development Action and Research. The seminar kicked off at Institute of Physics here Monday.
Around 300 delegates including educationists and scholars from India and abroad are attending the programme in which they will focus on various minority and tribal languages that have enriched India’s cultural fabric. Representatives from tribal, folk, traditional and contemporary art forms from different parts of the state have been invited who will deliberate on the nuances of the Odissi School. All aspects of culture including language, literature, music and art would be discussed in the programme.
“Language can be the linkage for the development of a state, country and of a person; it is necessary to focus on the development of Oriya language. Language represents culture which is the identity of an individual. For the development of tribal languages in the state, we have initiated a multi-lingual structure of education policy in tribal belts where we have included many tribal languages apart from English, Hindi and Oriya,” said school and mass education minister Debi Prasad Mishra.
“Everyone should feel proud of their language. Language is a passport of sorts and is one’s identity. But now we are witnessing a decline in originality. The vocabulary of yore is now no longer in use thanks to a gradual invasion of foreign languages. Our language is getting diluted with words from other tongues. The future of Oriya language is in danger and it is all because the young generation prefers to converse in languages other than their mother-tongue. There is no harm in speaking other languages but that should not come at the cost of one’s own language,” said culture minister Ashok Panda.
Padma Shri recipient Anwita Abbi, a linguist and director of tribal and oral language in Sahitya Akademi, also spoke at the programme. “Being a linguist, I was always concerned about the protection of languages. According to Unesco, there are many languages in India which are on the verge of extinction. Around 196 languages have been mentioned on the endangered list,” Abbi said.
“Scripting of languages is very important and in Orissa, around 62 tribal languages are there of which a majority are oral tongues and don’t have their own script. Though a tedious job, the state government needs to take initiatives to start scripting of such languages which will help in their preservation,” Abbi added.
“People should take it upon themselves to protect and develop a language. No language is inferior, rather they are complementary and one should feel proud for being able to speak more than one language. Our language is ancient and we should feel proud to be a part of this culture,” said Padma Shri awardee Debi Patanayak.