The clear and present danger :Kashmiri language and Kashmiri Pandits

Kashmir Rechords Exclusive

Asha Khosa, one of the seasoned and veteran journalist from Kashmir is by default very passionate about the issues facing the Kashmiri Pandit community. She is of the opinion that instead of harping on past glory, we Kashmiri Pandits should focus on most relevant and pressing issues facing our community. Her concern is shared by every Kashmiri Pandit, including another noted community Journalist, Avtar Bhat.

    But while deliberating on these issues, which are infinite, it appears that the present and clear danger and the number one issue is the preservation and propagation of Kashmiri language among Kashmiri Pandits.  Kashmiri Pandits will continue to exist only when they will carry the strength of Kashmiri language with them. We are all aware that day-to-day conversation in Kashmiri is the most effective tool to preserve the language but it is also felt that nobody among the young of our community is inclined to do, as they do not seem to be interested. Remember: Migration has nothing to do with learning or unlearning  of the mother tongue. We see thousands of labourers and their families ,working in every nook and corner of India since ages , including Jammu and Kashmir—but they continue  to speak their mother tongue with all fluency.

The Curse

The Kashmiri adage “Koshur Chu Pardaruk” (Kashmiri benefits others but not his community) seems to apply in this case. Like Jews, we may have become the part of international diaspora and made our dwellings all over the globe but unlike them, we have abandoned the language since we do not have the will to identify the strategy to implement any blueprint for its preservation and revival.

The cost of ignoring the language

If Kashmiri continues to be the language of Kashmiri Pandits only then is a possibility of our survival howsoever miniscule we are otherwise by all estimates the Community will not survive beyond fifty years. A sham ritual may continue to be the odd activity here and there like burning of ‘Isband’ in the ‘Kangri’ against the loud pounding of DJs but no Rav (Roff) and Vanvun will ring in the ear. Thus, Kashmiri Pandits will cease to exist and consequently will have no claim over Kashmir.

The present scenario of language related activity

Visit every book release function at Jammu or elsewhere where plenty of these functions are organised.  It is the same faces adoring different functions at different venues. No young man or woman is part of this activity. The same select group of people (over the age of fifty) goes on presenting poetries, stories or narrations ad infinitum but no new talent is honed. There is nobody among young Kashmiri Pandits who can be called a budding Kashmiri writer, poet or a commentator etc.

Erasing Kashmiri means erasing ourselves

So a great language, which has shaped and preserved the great civilizational ethos of Kashmiri Pandits, a language that traces its origin to antiquity, which finds mention in devotional poetry of seventh century “Chumma Sampraday” and Shitikantha’s devotional imploring to Lord Shiva will come to an end and so will the Kashmiri Pandits. The writing is clear on the wall