UNESCO has declared 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous languages. This prompted me to look at Punjabi from UNESCO’s viewpoint.  While we are worried about the future of the Punjabi language, Punjabi is not dying writes the author after thorough research and analysis. While governmental apathy towards Punjabi in Punjab is evident, efforts by lovers of the language will definitely ensure that Punjabi not only survives but grows.

Punjabi is not dying. Punjabi will not die. Today my Ma-boli -mother tongue -Punjabi is spoken by lesser number of people, is facing threats of assimilation and acculturation, its oral history has not been well documented and its use on the internet is still wanting. Still, let’s face it. It is not an endangered language

Some years ago, when a prominent Indian newspaper highlighted that there is a UNESCO report forecasting the death of Punjabi language in 2050, like many others, World Sikh News too was concerned. WSN decided to verify the veracity of the report and find out how the Punjabi language which was spoken by a few million worldwide would vanish from the surface of the earth.

WSN decided to go to the root of the matter and contacted the UNESCO office in Delhi.  Like us, even the UNESCO researchers and documentalists were distressed at the news report purportedly referring to a purported UNESCO report, about which they too were not aware of.  The researcher’s refrain was, “Oh! It is in a newspaper in Punjab” reflected the contempt for baseless reporting.

Lackadaisical approach to important matters is not a problem only with governments; even the most competitive media ignores basic norms of journalism.

The UNESCO office in Delhi diligently checked up their records, verified facts from their Paris headquarters and this is what they had to say, “The second (and latest to date) edition of the Atlas (Atlas of endangered languages) does not list Punjabi as an endangered language. We are currently in the process of developing the third updated and extended edition, and it will be up to the editorial board to take this kind of decisions.”

“The second (and latest to date) edition of the Atlas (Atlas of endangered languages) does not list Punjabi as an endangered language.”

Not fully satisfied, we wrote back again, urging them to look for the basis of such reference by eminent author and journalist Kuldip Nayar as part of his lecture delivered under the aegis of Punjabi Bachao Manch, which function was also attended by leading authors and a former vice-chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University.  The only basis they could find was a report on Welsh and Punjabi language in Europe. We perused the summary of that report too and found absolutely no reference to the language being endangered in any way, either in Europe or in the world.

Probing further, we asked them, “Is there even a remote possibility of Punjabi being there in the next draft report and somebody leaking this report to the media or to some leading journalists?  Their reply was, “it was highly unlikely that the media could access such a report even before its finalization.”

So, it can be safely said, with a justified sigh of relief that there is no UNESCO report to suggest that Punjabi would disappear in the coming decades.  The correspondence with UNESCO provided an opportunity to dig deep and understand the concept of endangered languages.

How do languages become endangered and what is the status of Punjabi? Language diversity is essential to the human heritage and each and every language embodies the unique cultural wisdom of a people is the UNESCO mandate.  Although 6,000 languages exist, the cooperative efforts of language communities, language professionals, NGOs and governments will be indispensable in countering the threat to the existence of many.

“In the International Year of Indigenous languages -2019, let us take this opportunity to interact with UNESCO and see what we can do to save the various dialects of Punjabi, in both the Punjabs, which could be defined as an indigenous language and about which UNESCO would be interested.  Sikligari and Parsee of the Sikligar Sikhs certainly fall into that category.”

UNESCO undertakes extensive research into the status of languages worldwide.  We view UNESCO guidelines in the context of Punjabi language. UNESCO says, “A language is endangered when its speakers cease to use it, use it in an increasingly reduced number of communicative domains, and cease to pass it on from one generation to the next and if a language loses all its speakers, it becomes an extinct language.”

Well, as far as present-day Punjabis are concerned, they do use Punjabi, may be somewhat less, and a sizable section does pass it on from one generation to another, though the decreasing numbers is a concern.  The Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims in East Punjab and Muslims and Sikhs in West Punjab continue to use the language. Hence, extinction is not even a remote possibility.

UNESCO further says, “Language endangerment may be the result of external forces such as military, economic, religious, cultural or educational subjugation, or it may be caused by internal forces, such as a community’s negative attitude towards its own language. Internal pressures often have their source in external ones, and both halt the inter-generational transmission of linguistic and cultural traditions.”  Undoubtedly, the Sikhs and Punjabis are developing a negative attitude towards their own language.  The government of India has attempted cultural genocide of the Sikhs in a variety of forms including machinations to subvert the Punjabi language.  Various departments of the Punjab government, including the state legislature do not use Punjabi.

Starting with the delayed formation of the state of Punjab on linguistic lines as was done for the whole country to the non-acceptance of Punjabi as an official language in those states where it is spoken extensively, lack of sponsorship of research and development in Punjabi as an internet language, –all these have definitely affected the growth of the language, in its own homeland, still no chances of extinction.

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Another parameter used by UNESCO to test language vitality is review of the governmental and institutional language attitudes and policies including official status and use. UNESCO should carry out a review of the role of the government of India and the government of Punjab for usage of Punjabi.

While Punjabi is not endangered, governmental apathy is a concern and peoples’ use of the language needs to be bolstered. With a number of organisations conscious of this, ready to meet the challenge headlong, there is no doubt that Punjabi will find its due place.

“While Punjabi is not endangered, governmental apathy is a concern and peoples’ use of the language needs to be bolstered. With a number of organisations conscious of this, ready to meet the challenge headlong, there is no doubt that Punjabi will find its due place.”

In the International Year of Indigenous languages -2019, let us take this opportunity to interact with UNESCO and see what we can do to save the various dialects of Punjabi, in both the Punjabs, which could be defined as an indigenous language and about which UNESCO would be interested.  Sikligari and Parsee of the Sikligar Sikhs certainly fall into that category.  Historian Dr Himadri Banerjee has stated that, Sikligar Sikhs use Sikligari as a spoken language not just for communication but throughout their history, the language has served as their first line of defence.

Let us prepare to celebrate the forthcoming Mother Tongue Day on 21 February with Punjabi gusto, flavour and spirit. In the 550 year of His birth celebrations, Guru Nanak has blessed the Punjabis. They are fully awake and aware. Punjabi will not die.