Decrying the “cultural onslaught” against the Chenab Valley’s, Students’ Union staged a protest in Kishtwar against the exclusion of Kashmiri language in the school Syllabus. The union says that Kashmiri is the mother tongue of the Chenab valley’s trio districts, viz., Doda, Kishtwar, and Ramban, and neglecting the highest spoken language of the region is a condemnable act.
Dogri is being included in our syllabus, which we believe is a part of larger conspiracy of extending the territorial vase of Jammu, the students said.
A Students Rights’ Activist, Anzer Ali said, “This is a clear violation of government order regarding the implementation of regional languages as subjects in secondary schools, which are mostly spoken there.”
Jammu Kashmir Government’s order number 333-Edu of 2017, which was published on June 19th, 2017, sanctioned the extension of teaching of regional languages, viz. Kashmiri, Dogri, and Bodhi, to Classes 9 & 10 in all government and private (recognised) schools in the erstwhile state of Jammu Kashmir as a compulsory 6th subject (Graded) in areas where such languages are spoken as a mother tongue.
Another member of the union, Wasim Ahmed, says that Kashmiri subjects should be introduced in primary, middle, secondary, and higher secondary classes in all schools in the Chenab Valley because Kashmiri is the mother tongue of this region and is spoken by more than 60-70% of the people here.
As per Director School Education Jammu order No. DSEJ-29790 of 28-09-2020, the Kashmiri language was not listed while introducing new subjects to Govt. Higher Secondary Schools. The same order introduced Dogri as subject to 8 Higher Secondary Schools in Doda and Kishtwar districts.
“Introducing Dogri in Doda and Kishtwar districts, which is not even spoken as a mother tongue here, was introduced in the school, but our mother tongue, Kashmiri, was ignored, which is spoken by more than 60-70% of the people,” one of the protesting students, Asiya Banoo, said.
The union urged LG Manoj Sinha for intervention in this matter and requested inclusion of Kashmiri language as a subject in the schools of Doda, Kishtwar, and Ramban districts of Jammu division. (Inputs from Chenab Times)