National language or language of the nation, what’s it?

By Razen Manandhar

KATHMANDU, Feb 21 : What a wonderful world this is, not only because of nature’s gifts of mountains,flowers and landscapes, and man’s gifts of temples and monuments. Equally important are people of different ethnic groups and because of 6,000 or so languages they speak all over the world.

About half of the languages in the world are under threat,experts say. Over the past three centuries, languages have died out and disappeared at a dramatic and steadily increasing pace, specially in the Americas and Australia.

"Today, at least 3,000 languages are endangered, seriously endangered or dying in many parts of the world," states a UNESCO press release issued today, on the occasion of the ‘International Mother Language Day’.

The second edition of the Atlas of the World’s Languages is in Danger of Disappearing,which was presented today, envisages the bitter facts about disappearing languages in details. The 14 maps in colour and 24 pages of commentary in the Atlas shows the "crisis areas" where linguistic diversity is most threatened.

Experts generally consider a community’s language to be "endangered" when at least 30 percent of its children no longer learn it.

Director general of UNESCO Koichiro Masura, in a message to International Mother Language Day, states that on International Mother Language Day, all languages are given equal recognition, for each is a unique response to the human condition and each is a living heritage we should cherish.

Though Nepali authorities often proudly announce that Nepal is rich with around 128 languages, many of them are not in satisfactory condition.

Linguist Dr Kamal Prakash Malla said that over ten-fifteen languages of Nepal are on the verge of extinction.

"Because of government policies, many communities are abandoning their mother languages. Even the number of Newars, the indigenous people of the capital, who have stopped using their mother language, is rising."

He said, rather than strengthening local languages, the government is emphasizing compulsory study of Nepali and English. "It is a wastage of human resources," he added.

In Nepal, people must study Nepali for 14 years and English for 10 years to graduate in any subject.

Dr Malla further stated that the government alone is not to be blamed. "The community should also show interest in preserving mother languages. It is not only the job of a handful of community leaders, but all the members of a community should participate in preserving languages and teaching it formally or informally at schools.’

Some three years ago, the Supreme Court made a verdict that no local authority like municipality, Village Development Committee and District Development Committee could use local language even as a supplementary.

Educational expert Ballav Mani Dahal said that the present language policy is unscientific and illogical and stressed that the seriousness of the government was lacking on this front.

"Classification of languages and making language policies should be based on a wide spectrum of discussions with participation of the community members and linguists, but down here, everything is done by the cabinet where only a few have knowledge of languages."

He added all languages are equal but here, some languages are widely used whereas some are almost extinct. One is named ‘national language’ while others are called ‘language of the nation’.

Dahal said that to save languages from disappearing, communities must be aware, sensitive and proud of their languages and the government must be committed to conserve minor languages in the real sense, practically.

"Having a language and being proud is not enough, we must have a proper environment to use them," he said.

Govt firm to promote mother tongues

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KATHMANDU, Feb 21: Minister for Education and Sports Amod Kumar Upadhyay today stressed that the government must introduce mother languages in schools.

"The government is fully committed to introduce, promote mother languages and encourage others to use languages of different communities in the country," he said, while addressing a programme organised to mark the Martyr’s Day. The programme was organised by the Bangladesh Embassy.

Bangladesh has come on observing February 21 as Martyr’s Day as several people were killed in the country’s movement for mother language, which eventually gave birth to a country named Bangladesh. And since 2000, United Nations celebrates this day as the International Mother Language Day.

He said the development of local languages is essential for human resource development.

Minister Upadhyay also said that linguistic bio-diversity and bio-diversity are interrelated and for the conservation of one, we must give enough space and atmosphere for development of the other.

Country Representative of United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) said many of the languages in the world are fast disappearing. "Here in Nepal, for example, the Kusunda language is now extinct and the cultural life of Nepal is poor for that."

He said, "we can act in the present day to prevent and reverse the decline in usage of minority and indigenous languages if we want to."

"As a part of a global information-gathering programme, UNESCO in Nepal has assigned the preparation of a baseline survey of the state of languages in Nepal."

General-Secretary of South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation QAMA Rahim said that many of the languages in the world are disappearing due to conspiracy against the languages by certain group of people.

"Because of the disappearance of languages, people are deprived of natural and automatic way of living."

He said mother language is some thing that comes to us automatically and nothing like this can be dear to a person in the world.

The Bagnladesh Embassy today observed the Martyrs’ Day with a poetry symposium, in association with the Nepalbhasa Poetry Forum Lizaa, in which poets recited poems in their mother languages.

Kamlaria system: An emerging social problem

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LALITPUR, Feb 21: Kamlaria is the system in which parents of young girls enter into agreements with employers or labour contractors for their daughters’ labour. Regarded as another form of Kamaiya, Kamlaria is now seen as a serious social problem affecting the lives of hundreds of young girls from seven to eight years of age who hail from the Tharu community in western Nepal.

With a view to garnering more support from other organisations in combating this inhuman practice, a presentation on the situation of Kamlarnis (girls who are bonded labourers) was jointly organised by the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation(NYOF), Friends of Needy Children (FNC) and United Nations Women’s Organisation (UNWO) today. NYOF, an American INGO based in California, has been working for the eradication of the bonded labour of young girls in the Dang district of western Nepal since the last two years.

The President of NYOF Olga D. Murray said, " During these two years we have been trying to focus on educating these young girls as we believe that education is a key in improving their situation. The Kamlaria system cropped up more out of economic necessity of the parents than anything else." NYOF is supporting income-generating activities so as to compensate the loss of their daughters’ earnings.

The director of NYOF Som Paneru narrated the facts regarding the system of Kamlaria and its prevalence in the Deukhuri Valley of the Dang district along with other four districts in western Nepal. He said, " These children usually work as servants in private homes or tea houses, washing dishes, taking care of children, cleaning, washing clothes and so on." He also pointed out that this system is gradually emerging as a social problem as the children are denied their childhood and education and are at maximum risk of being sexually and physically exploited.

‘The art of living’ in the 21st century

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KATHMANDU, Feb 21: The 21st century has swooped in on our lives, bringing with it new horizons dominant in the fields of entertainment, art, information technology and new scientific cultures; enhancing the lifestyles and comforts of humanity existent on the planet earth. And with these fascinating new introductions, we mortals are caught up in a rat race that is highly competitive and giddy in nature, seeking materialistic values far beyond our surviving means.

We humans are now trying to compete with machines, or become like them. Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, trapped in that constant rush, and never ending haste, we homo sapiens have now become prone to frustrations that lead to psychological stress, and this stress has paved the way to various illness and diseases. We humans have created for ourselves an enigmatic situation that keeps us running around in circles, not knowing what to do, and where to find that solution.

Meditation, it has been said, is the only route that leads to spiritual peace, bringing a perfect harmony and calmness that soothes the mind. Organisers at the programme said, "Whoever has fundamental knowledge, and can control the power of their minds and emotions, will always be happy people".

Recently, some people claimed that they have designed a unique programme to energise and give rest, to rejuvenate body, mind and soul with new dimensions.

‘The Art of Living’, claims that people should avoid hellish lifestyles: the programme also assured its visitors that ‘the art of living’ could make it easier for them to live normal peaceful lives. To prove their statements, the organisers of ‘The Art of Living’ are organising a four-days meditation programme which commenced from today at Agrawal Bhawan, in Kamal Pokhari.

Eight-hour curfew in Nawalparasi, Rautahat

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NAWALPARASI, Feb 21 : For the last four days, dawn-to-dusk curfews have been imposed in the Nawalparasi and Rautahat districts.

The respective district administrative offices said that the curfew was announced as a safety measure, and to control "terrorist" activities.

Both the districts have been under eight hours of curfew-beginning from eight at night.

"There’s a strict prohibition on transport and movement of civilians during the curfew hours. We have taken this measure to provide security to the locals, and to be on alert against the Maoist terrorists," said Chief District Officer, Bishnu Raj Kusmale. He said that the decision to clamp curfew was triggered after a rebel attack on the local Rural Housing Company.

He, however, said that in order to avoid inconvenience to commuters, night buses have been allowed to ply on the Mahendra Highway.

But at Nawalparasi’s district headquarters of Parasi, ever since the imposition of emergency an unofficial dusk-to-dawn curfew has been in place.

Rautahat’s Chief District Officer, Dayaram Sharma, said that a meeting of the district Security Committee had issued a notice directing night buses to leave the area by 7 pm, shops to be closed by the same time, and civilians to stop moving around after 8 pm. He also said that the security forces are on high alert in all parts of the district.

Yesterday, curfew was also imposed in Bhojpur and Sunsari districts.

Mangalsen palace continues to burn

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DHANGADHI, Feb 21: One of the oldest palaces in the country, the one at Mangalsen, the district headquarters of
Achham, continued to burn for the fifth day running after the bloodiest-ever Maoists’ attack on Sunday. The palace, which was converted into the district administration office three decades ago, is slowly turning into a pile of ashes.

Thousands of armed rebels from the neighbouring districts of Kalikot and Dailekh had set the palace on fire while attacking the district headquarters on February 17.

About six security guards are feared buried under the rubble of the palace.

The rebel attack, which took heavy toll of the security forces, also saw the death of Chief District Officer, Mohan Singh Karki.

The palace-turned-district administration office was built with baked bricks and a mixture of limestone and black gram," says Ram Bahadur Shah, a scion of the royal family of Accham.

The year of construction of the palace, however, is still a matter of confusion, as there are some who believe it is as old as 179 years, while there are others who put the age at 125.

Historian Purna Prakash Nepal ‘Yatri’ in his Seti ko Nalibeli
(History of Seti Zone) says that the palace was built during the reign of the Som dynasty about 179 years ago.

But, Ram Bahadur Shah, who is a descendant of the Som dynasty that ruled Achham before Nepal’s unification, says the palace was built by Dal Bahadur Shah to fulfill the wish of his wife during the tenure of Rana prime minister Chandra Shumsher Rana, who ruled from 1901 to 1929.

Shah says the palace was built by masons from Kathmandu in accordance with British architecture.

Accham residents are now worried that it will take years to rebuild the palace, even as moves are afoot to move the district administration office to nearby Ridikot as a temporary measure.

An elderly man from Bayalpata, the former headquarters of the district, says that after Sunday’s mayhem, his district has gone back 50 years in time.

Landfill site work halted after bomb blast

By Kulchandra Neupane

POKHARA, Feb 21: The laying of a road to the controversial landfill site in Pokhara Sub-metropolitan City-18, as well as building of the site itself, have been halted after Monday’s bomb explosion there which destroyed two expensive construction machines, and created panic among the workers.

Officials of the Kalika Construction Company, in charge of work relating to the landfill site, said that work cannot be resumed unless they are given satisfactory protection, and compensation for the damages caused by the blast.

Work for the landfill site began in late November after the declaration of emergency. For two years, the project was in the backburner due to protest by the locals.

Monday’s explosion destroyed excavator and roller machines, according to the Company. "The excavator costs about 10.5 million rupees and the roller costs 4 million," said Mahesh Subedi of the company. The company has moved all of its machines away from the construction site.

The landfill site or garbage dump is being constructed with a loan of 60 million rupees from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The construction is being undertaken by the Environment Improvement Project, which contracted some parts of the work to the Kalika Company paying it 20 million rupees, for construction of road and basic infrastructure in the area. The other two contractor companies have demanded a compensation of 3.5 million and 2.5 millions for the losses incurred because of the delay, said Jotendra Gurung, chief of EIP.

Cut in VDC dole delays resettlement project

By Pravakar Ghimire

CHITWAN, Feb 21: There has been a delay in resettling most of the people of Padampur village in this district after the announcement of a 25 percent budget slash, according to a VDC official.

The cut recently announced by the government, has stalled the distribution of compensation to the people living in Padampur which lies on the edges of the Royal Chitwan National Park, said Baburam Puri, Chairperson of Padampur Translocation Commission (PTC). "We were planning to distribute about 20 million rupees this year in compensation, but that does not seem likely in the wake of the budget cut of 10 million rupees," said Puri.

The PTC was formed seven years ago after the government decided to translocate the people of the village which suffers heavy losses every year due to flood and attack by wild animals.

About 1,100 families have already been resettled to an area near Jutepani, and three hundred more will be moved within the next three months, said Puri. "Complete resettlement will take place in the next 13-14 months," said the PTC Chairman.

The PTC has been given 1,600 bighas of land near Jutepani, out of which 1,300 bighas will be distributed to the villagers, while the rest is to be used for public constructions, he said.

More than 80 million rupees have been distributed in compensation till date, and the same amount is required to complete the resettlement project. "This year the Commission has already distributed 9.1 million rupees," said Puri.

Puri also informed that the PTC has begun construction of basic infrastructure in the relocated Padampur village.