Why We Mark Mother Language Day

Rastinews — UNESCO has designated February 21 as International Mother Language Day around the world. Kurds have set aside May 15 as Kurdish Language Day, marking it every year on that date. To understand why, and what a mother language day actually means, we first need to grasp what the term "mother language" means, when language day falls both globally and in our own country, why it matters, and why it is marked at all.

Many days have been established by humanity, by the world, and by institutions such as UNESCO — declared, announced, and marked each year at their appointed time. International Workers' Day, International Women's Day, Mother's Day, and others are examples. Each of these occasions carries deep meaning for humanity, and many grew out of tragedies and dark events that became part of humanity's agenda. They exist so that humanity does not stay silent in the face of wrongs done to human and universal values, and instead takes a stand. Language Day is one of these meaningful occasions.

Every nation's language carries immense meaning and value, both for that nation and for the world. What sets the nations of the world apart from one another is not geography, but their own distinct language and culture. It is through the languages and cultures of nations that the world holds its unmatched diversity. UNESCO's designation of a language day reflects the importance of language, the diversity of global culture, the protection of endangered languages, and the safeguarding of human values. Language is recognised as the foundation of a nation's culture, history, and very existence. Consider what kind of world this would be if languages and cultures were not different from one another.

Sadly, the world's Language Day traces back to a tragic event. At the time, Bangladesh was under Pakistani rule and had not yet become an independent state. The Pakistani government had banned the Bangladeshi language. On 21 February 1952, the people of Bangladesh, led by university students at the forefront of a language movement, staged demonstrations — and in the course of those protests, many university students were killed. UNESCO later declared that day International Mother Language Day.

Throughout world history, the banning of languages, the forced assimilation of peoples, the displacement of populations and the erasure of national cultures have occurred again and again. Deep in human history, before Christ, the first attempt to erase a language was made by the Assyrian Empire. The Persian Empire and the Roman Empire followed suit. Assyria and Persia inflicted these same wrongs on the Kurdish people. To this day, the occupiers of Kurdistan continue, shamelessly and ruthlessly, to ban the Kurdish language, displace Kurds and force them to assimilate. Yet because of the Kurdish people, Kurdish culture and the Kurdish language — ancient, and the foundation of many of the world's cultures — it still stands, even without a state, still carries great influence, and will always remain precious.

Beyond the Language Day declared by UNESCO, there is a separate day devoted specifically to the Kurdish language. Kurdish Language Day marks the occasion when work was first done, specifically and for the first time, on the Kurdish language: the day Mîr Celadet Alî Bedirxan began his work on Kurdish using the Latin alphabet and published the magazine Hawar. There is no doubt that what we do today, we owe to the work begun that day. Long before Mîr Celadet Alî Bedirxan's pioneering effort, works had already been written and printed in Kurdish throughout history. But the work specifically devoted to the language and to the Latin alphabet was first undertaken by Mîr Celadet Alî Bedirxan.

Among our people, Language Day has come to be known as Mother Language Day. So let us examine this name a little. Why "mother tongue"? If your answer is that, after God gives a child life, the child learns language from its mother — yes, that is true, and a fair answer. But if you think in Turkish terms, where "zimanê dayikê" echoes the Turkish "ana dil" — that would be a serious mistake. In Turkish, "ana dil" means the primary or main language, implying that alongside the main language there also exist regional languages and other living languages. That is why the term "mother language" does not fit our language, and it would be more accurate to call it "Kurdish Language Day" or "Kurdish Language Festival."

To touch briefly on why language matters: in short, language is a nation's identity; in short, it is a nation's very existence. Beneath these functions of language lies immense depth and value. Our language is the foundation of our music, our folklore, the key to our understanding, the foundation of our shared thought and feeling, and the foundation of our national customs and laws. Those who forget their language lose all of these things. That is why the death of a language is the death of a nation and of these values. Protecting one's language is everyone's duty — it is the duty of being human.

I take pride in the richness and fullness of my language. Through this golden language, I count myself fortunate to carry the existence of my people's ancient culture. In every walk of life, speaking my own language, standing by my nation and my people's culture across the ages, I have never seen myself as less than any other person or nation in the world. In every walk of life I take pride in my values; I am fortunate to be Kurdish, and among all the peoples of the world, I hold my head high with my own values.