The BJP Government led by Narendra Modi approved a bill on Wednesday under which five languages are set as official languages in the Union Territory of Jammu Kashmir.
These languages include Kashmiri, Dogri, Hindi, Urdu and English.
Before the approval of this bill under the Central Government of India, Urdu language was the official language of Jammu & Kashmir region from 131 years.
Back in the time of Dogra rule in Jammu Kashmir, Maharaja Pratap Singh who was the third ruler of the Dogra Dynasty, replaced Persian with Urdu as the official language of Jammu & Kashmir in 1889. However the new Jammu Kashmir Official Languages Bill 2020 will be introduced in the upcoming Monsoon session of Indian Parliament.
The Bill received the cabinet approval in the meeting held on Wednesday which was presided by PM Narendra Modi.
“It is not only the fulfilment of a long pending public demand from the region but is also keeping with the spirit of equality, which was ushered in after August 5 last year” said the Union Minister Prakash Javadekar after the cabinet meeting.
“The Cabinet decision today will not only bring ease of governance, but also of citizen participation in governance in the newly created Union Territory of Jammu Kashmir” the Minister of State for Personnel said.
However the senior National Conference leader and former Minister Agha Rohullah said there was never a demand for adding other languages in the region.
“It’s a continuation of what has been happening and is cultural invasion of Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir, being a Muslim-majority state is not an administrative issue for them. It has become a theatre for them to woo Hindutva voters and also because they want to demolish the cultural identity of Jammu Kashmir”, said Rohullah as per the Telegraph.
On the other hand this decision was strongly criticised by All Party Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) for removing Punjabi Language from Jammu Kashmir Official Language Bill. The committee termed it as ‘anti-minority move on the part of Government of India.
Jagmohan Singh Raina, the President of the committee said that Punjabi language has been the part of Jammu Kashmir Constitution before the provisions of Article 370 was abolished.
This move has pushed the sentiments of Sikh community and creating the environment of shock among Sikh people of the region. “The Government has taken an extreme step by excluding Punjabi language which will create resentment among the minorities”, stated Raina.