The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
The 25th annual International Mother Language Day was celebrated with speech and song February 22 at the Franklin Township Library’s main branch on DeMott Lane.
Created by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1999, International Mother Language Day was adopted by the United Nations in 2002. Its purpose is to preserve linguistic diversity and preserve mother tongues, according to the UN’s web page.
The day came at the urging of Bangladesh, which wanted to honor those killed on February 21, 1952 while protesting the efforts of the Pakistani government to impose Urdu as the national language in place of their native Bangla. The day also commemorates the sacrifices of the Tamil Nadu people, in southern India, protesting India’s government’s attempt to impose Hindi as the national language there.
Balamurugan Ganesan of the Thinai – America organization was the event’s host. This was the fourth year the group has sponsored the event in Franklin, said Ganesan, a native of Tamil Nadu.
Ganesan spoke of the importance to cultures of preserving their mother tongue, noting that languages die at an alarming rate.
“Whatever language you speak at home, whatever language you carry with you, please transfer the language to the future generations so your children,” he said. “I know it’s very hard, but people do it.”
“We have been successful to some extent, but please do continue, transfer the language, the mother language you speak, to the future generation,” he said.
“Since the declaration as International Mother Language Day by UNESCO, this day is being observed all over the world like Chile, Russia, Philippines, Egypt, and Canada,” said Tasnuva Airen Juthi, a native of Bangladesh.
“Today, here, there is a growing awareness that language plays a vital role in development in ensuring cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue,” she said.
Anand Kumar Kali, also a native of Tamil Nadu, said that a culture’s mother language has “a power to express and it has a power to bring the uniqueness of every human being.”
“When we gather somewhere, when you get connected, you get connected with your people only through mother tongue language,” Kali said. “The connection will be very realistic. … you can get connections only if you speak in mother language. The mother language has power. It is like the mother we always have with us.”
“We should save our language,” he said. “Day by day, we have to speak in our mother tongue. We have to carry our mother language. We have to transfer the mother language to our next generation.”
“We also respect other languages, we also respect the cultural traditions of other languages,.” he said. “At the same time, we should carry our mother language.”
Stay ‘In the Know,’ subscribe to the Franklin Reporter & Advocate!
No other media outlet covering Franklin Township brings you the depth of information presented by the Franklin Reporter & Advocate. Period. We are the only truly independent media serving the Eight Villages.
But we can only do that with your support. Please consider a yearly subscription to our online news site; at $37 a year, it’s one of the best investments you can make for yourself.
To subscribe, please click here.
