Although 6,000 languages exist, the cooperative efforts of language communities, language professionals, NGOs and governments will be indispensable in countering the threat to the existence of many. How do languages become endangered and what is the status of Punjabi? Language diversity is essential to the human heritage and each and every language embodies the unique cultural wisdom of a people is the UNESCO mandate. The correspondence with UNESCO provided an opportunity to dig deep and understand the concept of endangered languages. So, it can be safely said, with a justified sigh of relief that there is no UNESCO report to suggest that Punjabi would disappear in the coming decades. Probing further, we asked them, “Is there even a remote possibility of Punjabi being there in the next draft report and somebody leaking this report to the media or to some leading journalists? Their reply was, “it was highly unlikely that the media could access such a report even before its finalization.”
We perused the summary of that report too and found absolutely no reference to the language being endangered in any way, either in Europe or in the world. The only basis they could find was a report on Welsh and Punjabi language in Europe. Not fully satisfied, we wrote back again, urging them to look for the basis of such reference by eminent author and journalist Kuldip Nayar as part of his lecture delivered under the aegis of Punjabi Bachao Manch, which function was also attended by leading authors and a former vice-chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University. “The second (and latest to date) edition of the Atlas (Atlas of endangered languages) does not list Punjabi as an endangered language.” We are currently in the process of developing the third updated and extended edition, and it will be up to the editorial board to take this kind of decisions.” The UNESCO office in Delhi diligently checked up their records, verified facts from their Paris headquarters and this is what they had to say, “The second (and latest to date) edition of the Atlas (Atlas of endangered languages) does not list Punjabi as an endangered language. Lackadaisical approach to important matters is not a problem only with governments even the most competitive media ignores basic norms of journalism. The researcher’s refrain was, “Oh! It is in a newspaper in Punjab” reflected the contempt for baseless reporting. Like us, even the UNESCO researchers and documentalists were distressed at the news report purportedly referring to a purported UNESCO report, about which they too were not aware of. WSN decided to go to the root of the matter and contacted the UNESCO office in Delhi.
WSN decided to verify the veracity of the report and find out how the Punjabi language which was spoken by a few million worldwide would vanish from the surface of the earth. Some years ago, when a prominent Indian newspaper highlighted that there is a UNESCO report forecasting the death of Punjabi language in 2050, like many others, World Sikh News too was concerned. Today my Ma-boli -mother tongue -Punjabi is spoken by lesser number of people, is facing threats of assimilation and acculturation, its oral history has not been well documented and its use on the internet is still wanting. While governmental apathy towards Punjabi in Punjab is evident, efforts by lovers of the language will definitely ensure that Punjabi not only survives but grows.
While we are worried about the future of the Punjabi language, Punjabi is not dying writes the author after thorough research and analysis. This prompted me to look at Punjabi from UNESCO’s viewpoint.
UNESCO has declared 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous languages.
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