‘Straying further away from our roots’
"The Language Movement aimed to establish the right to one's mother tongue. It stood for protecting one's identity, culture and heritage. But in reality, I'm losing my Khumi accent that I'm so proud of. I'm losing my authenticity and my originality," were the words of Aungho Khumi, the first-ever public university student from the Khumi community in Bandarban.
Aungho is currently pursuing her bachelors' from Jahangirnagar University in mathematics.
On February 21, Indigenous Students' Association of JU placed floral wreaths at the pedestal of the tallest Shaheed Minar of Bangladesh on JU campus.
On the occasion of International Mother Language Day, the indigenous students talked to this correspondent about their roots and their struggle with languages.
Urao is another ethnic minority community in Sirajganj, from where only four students are currently pursuing higher education at JU. One of them, Pulasto Kumar Urao, a government and politics major, shared his experiences with language.
"For us, the barriers were double. We learnt Bangla as a second language and then English as third. When we move out of our homes for work or education, we don't get to communicate in our language anymore. We keep losing touch with it every day and slowly stray further away from our roots," he said.
According to Steve Rema, a journalism major at JU from the Garo community, many indigenous languages have already been extinct. Printed books are available in only five indigenous languages at the primary level.
"Some still can't read in their native languages. Most of them don't know their alphabets. Lack of regular communication and qualified teachers have led to this," he added.
Sanjit Mahato Rony, president of JU's Indigenous Students' Association, said, "I'm from the Mahato community in Sirajganj. I only have four Mahato students on the campus, and that's why we cannot perform any community-specific rituals or festivals here. The same can be said about students from other ethnic minority communities, despite coming from a rich and diverse culture."
"Our languages, rituals and culture need protection and patronisation from the government, to save them from extinction and cultural invasion," said Sanjit.
However, the indigenous students of JU have not lost all hope of preserving their culture and languages. They still have hopes for the emancipation of all languages and the right to their mother languages, embracing the true spirit of Ekushey.
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