Dear
Pakistan, you need to Mind all your Languages!
Life Story of Kati by Saadia Bashir
(Writer of this post is an MPhil-Linguistic Student at FJWU)
Ah! My heart-wrenching story has a
spectacular beginning. I am a decedent of powerful Endo-European family. My
family tree, hung in the insipid drawing-room of my deteriorating house, is now
frozen in time. Nevertheless, it bespeaks volumes about the glorious laps in
which I took birth. All laps that nurtured and fed me with magnificent ‘words,’
belonged to Afghanistan.
At
present, I live in slightly better circumstances in Afghanistan where I have
15,000 speakers that reside in Northeast, mainly Nurestan, Badakhshan, and
Konar provinces; smaller areas in Laghman and Panjshir provinces. Western
Kativiri dialect speakers dwell in Mondul and Duab districts, Ramgal, Kulam,
Ktivi (Kantiwo), and Paruk (Papruk) valleys; Mumviri dialect speakers are
housed in Mangul, Sasku, Gabalgrom villages in the Bashgal valley. Eastern
Kativiri dialect speakers live in upper Bashgal valley (Barg-e-Matal). I was
also declared statutory language of provincial identity in Nuristan Province
(2004, Constitution, Article 16(2)).
But in notorious Pakistan,
I only own 3,700 speakers and that too, the ‘fallen ones’ if you allow me to quote
‘Miltonian’ term! You wish to know the reason? Literacy rate of my L1 speakers
is 0 percent and L2 speakers is, O’ dear Lord, only 1-2 percent. So my future,
in Pakistan, in any case, is dismal! You can find me on language cloud too,
just in case if you want to preserve me!
Well, now I am not that Godforsaken! A few lovers of
mine who reside in Afghanistan have taken some heart-warming steps to preserve
me. News from 2010 has breathed new life in me. Friends say that Ministry of
Education Afghanistan is undertaking some salubrious work to write textbooks in
me, develop dictionaries and also write my grammar. Phew, better sense
prevailed! After all there is some hope, but wait .... not in Pakistan! I will
vanquish from there and that I am certain! Pakistan needs to realize the
importance of its age-old languages that are a custodian of diversity of
cultures! Wake up Pakistan! Go, mind
your languages! And give our story a dramatic turn!
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