Languages of 15 ethnic minorities are at risk too

There are 12 families of the Hudi community in the Gridda Narayanpur village of Sherpur Sadar upazila. None of them can speak in their mother tongue.

Subhashchandra Biswas, a member of the community, was saying, “Even I can’t speak in my mother tongue, let alone my children. Where I can’t send my children to schools for money, there is no scope to think about the language.”

The Bangladesh government recognised 50 ethnic minorities in 2019. Hudi is one of them. There are around 20,000 Hudi people in Bangladesh. There are many ethnic minorities like Hudi who lost their language.

The Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), an international organisation working on languages, has come up with 15 such languages at risk in Bangladesh. The SIL International says these ethnic groups are socioeconomically weak. Their languages are also on the verge of extinction.

The SIL has been conducting qualitative and quantitative studies on languages of 15 ethnic groups for the last three years. These ethnic groups are Kando, Ganju, Banai, Baraik, Bagdi, Bhumijo, Kheria, Malo, Mushar, Teli, Turi, Rajoar, Hudi, Patra and Bhuimali.

SIL International country director Cornelius Tudu said, “The ethnic groups we are working on are little known. A major goal of our work was to make them more visible. The reason behind highlighting the vulnerability is to encourage the minority groups to work on preserving their own language and to inspire other ethnic groups to do the same. We have seen that the more the ethnic groups are vulnerable, the more vulnerable their languages are.

There are different standards to determine the state of the language. The SIL International used the standard called ‘Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS). As per this scale, there are 10 levels to understand the state of the language. The languages in the first three levels are comparatively in a ‘good’ state. These languages are used regionally. The languages in the fourth and fifth level are used in academic activities, and have their own literature. The languages in the sixth, seventh and eighth levels are considered highly endangered languages. And the languages in the ninth and tenth level are considered dead or non-existent.

According to the SIL research, the members of ethnic groups of Malo, Baraik and Ganju use the ‘Sadri’ language verbally. But there is no written format of this language. Besides, the ‘Nagori’ language used by the Teli community, ‘Khatta’ used by the Turi community, ‘Deshwali’ and ‘Nagori’ used by Mushar community, ‘Kui’ and ‘Oriya’ used by the Kando community and the Bhumijo language used by the Bhumijo community are at the risk of being extinct.

Although the ‘Lalengthar’ language of the Patra community and the ‘Banai’ language of the Banai community are at risk, members of these ethnic groups still use the language to communicate within themselves. The ‘Khattali’ dialect of the Rajoar community and ‘Farsi’ language of the Kharia community are in the eighth level of EGIDS. The languages in the tenth level are Bagdi, Hudi and Bhuimali.

Regarding the languages of the 15 groups, the SIL research said there is no importance for language, culture, customs, and identity in the pursuit of livelihood. Their poverty and financial woes make them reluctant to learn the mother tongue and disseminate it to future generations. As a result, the language of each community is facing growing threats.

Liton Ganju, a worker of Patrakhola tea garden in Kamalganj upazila of Moulvibazar, said they do not practice their language. Most of the people are poor and have little scope to think about the language. And, no one comes forward to protect it.

According to the research, the 15 minority groups mainly live in the plains of Bangladesh, while around 85 per cent of them are engaged in agriculture. Of them, Baraik, Bagdi, Bhumij, Ganju, Kanda, Kharia communities live in tea gardens and each of them earn Tk 170 a day.

With a focus on the minor groups, the Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD) published a research book, with the title Cha Sramiker Mojuri: Maliker Labh, Sramiker Loksan (Wages of Tea Workers: Owners Win, Workers Lose). According to the book, a tea worker earns a total of Tk 8,000 a month, including wages and other benefits.

However, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics showed in its Household Income and Expenditure Survey - 2022 that the average income per family in the country is Tk 32,422.

Economist Hossain Zillur Rahman told Prothom Alo about the relationship between socio-economic conditions and extinction of language, “The economy does not have a direct relationship with language prosperity or endangerment. But language creates human identity. If the language of someone has a strong position, he remains ahead of others in terms of availing economic opportunities. This is equally true for individuals and societies."

Arunendu Tripura, a researcher of the language and culture of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, said that the hill district councils have turned active to protect the mother language. In the country, each district council can play a role in the collection and promotion of alphabets and literature of the languages of the ethnic groups in the particular district.”

Professor Syed Shahriar Rahman of the Department of Linguistics at Dhaka University advised ensuing technological support to protect the endangered languages. He said the songs and fables of these languages can be recorded and placed on YouTube or any other social media platforms. Not only the particular group members but also other people may show interest in the languages.