Call to include more languages in census forms

CHITRAL: The Mother Tongue Initiative for Education and Research Chitral (MIER), a non-governmental organisation, on Friday asked the government to include more languages in the census.

The demand was made during a discussion session on the collecting of details about the languages being spoken in the country. The MIER Chitral is a research-based organisation which works for the promotion and preserving of local languages in the Chitral valley.

President of MIER Farid Ahmad Raza said there was no column for the vanishing languages of Chitral and Kalash people faith in the census form. He said there was no column for the province's third widely spoken language Khowar (Chitrali) in the census form and other vanishing languages of the valley.

The language activist said there were reports that there was no mention of around 64 languages spoken in the country. "Only nine languages have been mentioned in the census form while the rest have been addressed as 'others languages," he added.

Farid Ahmad Raza said that the move would make it almost impossible to collect data about these languages and native speakers. He said it was reported that the ancient Kalash faith and the Kalasha language had also not been included in the form, which he termed disappointing.

Farid Ahmad Raza said that the MIER had taken up the issue with the local leaders of all the political parties and parliamentarians but they did not evince any interest in the important issue.

He asked the government to amend the census form and include the Kalash faith and other languages in the form as it would help protect these vanishing languages and
cultures.