Agartala, February 21: The preservation and development of languages are crucial for the growth of any community, and the state government is committed to ensuring equal importance and treatment for the enrichment of all languages, said Tripura’s Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ratan Lal Nath. He made these remarks while addressing the silver jubilee celebration of International Mother Language Day in Agartala on Friday.
Highlighting a concerning global trend, Nath stated that 75% of the existing languages today are at risk of extinction within the next century. In Tripura, the tribal language Karbon has already become extinct, though efforts are being made to preserve its remnants, with a few families near Teliamura still speaking it.
“Language is not just the identity but also the emotion and right of a community, as relevant and important as one’s mother and motherland,” Nath said.
He emphasized that without linguistic development, the progress of a civilization or community is hindered.
The former Education Minister underscored the government’s initiatives to promote poets and writers of various local languages, encouraging them while supporting the circulation of their literature.
He stressed that enriching one’s mother tongue is essential, and equal respect should be given to all languages.
Speaking on the central government’s role, Nath claimed that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, significant emphasis is being placed on mother languages, citing the introduction of medical and engineering textbooks in local languages for better comprehension.
Providing a linguistic demographic overview, Nath noted that the world’s most spoken language is Chinese, followed by English, with Hindi ranking fifth and Bengali sixth, spoken by 23 crore people. In Tripura, 9.57% of the population speaks Kokborok.
The Minister reiterated the state government’s commitment to promoting Kokborok alongside Bengali. Efforts are also being made to include Kokborok in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, and there are rising demands for official recognition of Reang and Chakma languages.
He criticized previous governments for neglecting tribal languages, resulting in the loss of many words. However, the present administration is actively working to revive and preserve these languages.
The event at Agartala Town Hall was attended by Agartala Mayor and MLA Dipak Majumder, Padma Shri awardee writer Arunadoy Saha, senior officials of the Education Department, and hundreds of students and teachers from various institutions.
