Context: International Mother Language Day is observed on February 21, every year to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. International Mother Language Day recognizes that languages and multilingualism can advance inclusion, and the Sustainable Development Goals focus on leaving no one behind.
International Mother Language Day 2021: Theme

• The theme of the 2021 International Mother Language Day is “Fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society,”.
• This year’s observance is a call on policymakers, educators and teachers, parents, and families to scale up their commitment to multilingual education, and inclusion in education to advance education recovery in the context of COVID-19.

International Mother Language Day: History

• The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh. It was approved at the 1999 UNESCO General Conference and has been observed throughout the world since 2000.
• On 16 May 2007 the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/61/266 called upon the Member States "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world".
• The protests that erupted on February 21, 1952, in then East Pakistan against the imposition of Urdu launched the Bengali language movement in Bangladesh. It is the nucleus of the International Mother Language Day.
• The UNESCO recognized the day in 1999 to celebrate indigenous languages across the globe. To sustain and develop the mother tongue or the first language is the motive behind this day.

Current Issues

• Indigenous languages, like most ethnic cultures, increasingly have a localised and restricted existence — overwhelmed by global markets, global economics and global corporates.
• A UNESCO report states that nearly 1,500 ethnic languages are globally becoming extinct every day.

Importance of Mother Tongue

• Mother tongue is what kids get first acquainted with. It plays a major role in shaping feelings and thought processes.
• Mother tongue helps preserve cultural heritage and identity.
• The prevalence of different mother tongues help appreciate linguistic diversity and inspire solidarity and opens room for dialogue and negotiation in times of conflicts.
• An in-depth knowledge of one’s mother tongue makes assimilating foreign languages and cultures smoother.

Examples of incorporating Mother Tongue 

• Nordic countries have advocated learning two languages from the primary school level: The language of the land and the mother tongue.
• In remote regions of countries like Sweden and Norway, primary schools, as a rule, teach indigenous languages. Bengali is taught in a number of suburban schools of Sweden, Norway and Finland to children of political migrants.
• The German states too have instituted this system, primarily responding to appeals from the Turkish people.
• The British Parliament has a significant number of MPs of Bangladeshi origin, who are now British citizens. At least a dozen Bangla weeklies are published in proper London.
• The North America, of course, is way ahead in this regard. More than a dozen Bangla weeklies are published from New York alone; radio and TV are equally popular as are Bangla book fairs and related programmes. The picture is no different in Canada.

UNESCO Strategy for the Safeguarding of Endangered Languages

• The UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and the UN Resolution 56/262 both stress the need for urgent action to promote the linguistic diversity, as part of the world’s cultural diversity.
• The UNESCO has categorized languages on basis of endangerment as “Vulnerable, Definitely Endangered, Severely Endangered and Critically Endangered”. UNESCO has recognized 42 Indian languages as Critically Endangered.
• UNESCO Promoting cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue through the development of: content in as many languages as possible on the Internet, collecting and disseminating case studies and information highlighting the cultural heritage and linguistic richness of various peoples;

BUT, WHY IS THE SITUATION GRIM?

• Fewer students and proficient teachers are not that easily available.
• Number of refugees is dwindling; tough laws restrict their influx.
• The Foreign languages facilitate and guarantee successful trade and commerce and boost the economy. For example: Learning Bengali does not guarantee jobs abroad; nor are youngsters keen on appreciating Bengali literature. So in Bangladesh and West Bengal, parents send their wards to English-medium schools.

Road Ahead

• Technology can be used to preserve the mother tongue. Google’s Project Navlekha in India is an example. The project aims to increase the presence of online content in local languages. There are also community groups on Facebook that can promote the usage of one’s mother tongue.
• Awareness regarding the professional viability of pursuing degrees in native languages. These include Language Experts, Translators, and Tourist-Guides etc.
• Use of native languages at homes, schools, and offices should be encouraged. For example: Rajya Sabha has an arrangement for interpretation of 22 languages i.e. members are encouraged to communicate in their native languages.
• Other countries can learn from France/Germany/Italy or China that have developed their mother languages as a powerful medium at international forums to preserve their cultural and linguistic identity.