kkbet Keeping Koshur Alive: The Struggle To Save Kashmir's Mother Tongue

23-year-old Touqeer Ashraf, who runs the popular "Keashur Praw" pages, is among the young people trying to revive the Koshur language. 23-year-old Touqeer Ashraf, who runs the popular "Keashur Praw" pages, is among the young people trying to revive the Koshur language.

Like other languages, Kashmiri is also a reflection of the core values of its people – warm, witty, and specific. Phrases like “Zuv Wandaey” (I give you my life) are common in everyday conversations, used by family and friends to express their love. You'll also hear people say “Balai Lagai” (I will take your misfortune upon me) and “Navas Lagai” (My everything in your name) — phrases that speak volumes about the depth of love and connection in Kashmiri relationships. Even anger in Kashmiri has its own charm. Elders generally scold young ones by saying “Pyeye Trath” (May a cloudburst fall on you) or “Pyayi Nas Wasit” (May your nose fall off).

The Decline Of Koshur

For centuries, Kashmiri has been ignored as a potential language of administration, with those in power preferring Sanskrit, Persian, Urdu, Dogri, and English in different eras. In 1953, Kashmiri was removed from the school curriculum, supposedly to lighten the load on students. Half a century later, in 2008, Kashmiri was made a compulsory language up to the eighth standard. At the university level, a postgraduate course in Kashmiri was introduced at Kashmir University in 1979, despite the recommendations of the Kothari commission fifteen years prior.

With the trending influence of globalisation and the dominance of languages like Urdu and English, Kashmiri finds itself increasingly marginalised and dwindling. Kashmiri, the language that embodies the region’s heritage and identity, faces the risk of being overshadowed and forgotten.

Dr. Shafqat Altaf, who teaches Kashmiri at the University of Kashmir, believes that languages like Urdu and English are often prioritised for education and employment. "There is also a lack of educational resources and materials available in Kashmiri, making it difficult for youngsters to engage with the language academically, except for those who pursue the language course," he says. 

But there are those who refuse to let their mother tongue fade. Many writers, students, and enthusiasts are working tirelessly to keep Kashmiri alive. They believe that the language is an integral part of Kashmir's identity and culture, and its loss would be a tragedy.

Making Kashmiri ‘Cool Again’

Seerat Hafiz, a 21-year-old psychology graduate, is on a mission to revive the Kashmiri language. As the founder of Yikvot, a reading club that promotes Kashmiri literature, Seerat is making an effort to make her mother tongue "cool again."

"The notions of shame in speaking Kashmiri have always been there, especially in the so-called elite schools. It is important that we try to preserve it now, because we can't wait for when it's entirely gone," says Seerat.

Yikvot translates to "together" in Kashmiri and symbolises Seerat's ambition of uniting Kashmiris around the world. The club, with over 250 members from various countries, including Kashmiri Pandits and Sikhs, meets online every weekend to read and discuss Kashmiri literature, rekindling their connection to their ancestral language.

The Google Meet sessions, which officially last an hour, often spill over as members continue chatting. The atmosphere is lively, with humour and laughter flowing freely. Sometimes the emotions run high, with some members even breaking down in tears during narrations.

Yikvot Poster Yikvot Poster

Seerat's passion for preserving Kashmiri began when she struggled to recite a poem in her mother tongue during her undergraduate days. "I was in my second year, and I was asked to recite a poem for Mental Health Day. I really wanted it to be in Kashmiri, but I struggled to read and pronounce the words correctly. That was my wake-up call," she recalls.

"Our target audience is Gen-Z," Seerat says. "It's a very preppy and happy-go-lucky group.” She says that the initial response to Yikvot was low, but things changed when they started reading translated works like "Wuthering Heights" and "Crime and Punishment." "I saw curiosity followed by interest," she says.

Found In Translation And Other Things

BY Srishti Jha

Reviving Kashmiri Through Translation

Behind the Kashmiri translation of Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic novel "Crime and Punishment" is Shamshad Kralwari, a poet, broadcaster, and translator from Kashmir. The Kashmiri title of the novel is "Jurum Te Saza".

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"Kashmiri is my first love," says Kralwari. He holds master's degrees in Persian, Urdu, and Kashmiri. He has published three translation works and four self-written books. 

For Kralwari, translation helps in preserving cultural heritage and enriches a language's vocabulary. His journey into translation began when Kashmiri poet and folklorist Moti Lal Saqi suggested to him that translating one of the world’s top ten classics would be a great contribution to the Kashmiri language. After reading Dostoevsky's novel, Kralwari found it to be a real treat and was motivated to act on the suggestion. 

Shamshad Kralwari Shamshad Kralwari

Despite his efforts, Kralwari says that the readership of Kashmiri literature remains very limited. "Many people, even those who make a living from the Kashmiri language, do not read," he says.  

India, the most successful team in the competition, now have five titles, including back-to-back triumphs in 2023 and 2024. The victory adds to their bronze medal secured at the Paris Olympic Games last month.

Kralwari believes that the literate class has harmed Kashmiri the most, as they often abandon the language in favour of more "prestigious" ones. "We need to produce literature beyond poetry and fictional stories. Writers must play a crucial role in this endeavour," Kralwari says. “We must overcome our inferiority complex and take pride in our language. By doing so, we can ensure that Kashmiri thrives for generations to come.”

Bringing Kashmiri Back To Life Online

To revive interest in Kashmiri language, many young people have taken to social media, sharing Kashmiri word meanings, poetry, videos, and more. Among them is 23-year-old Touqeer Ashraf, who runs the popular "Keashur Praw" pages. The name "Praw" is a Kashmiri word that means "shimmering light.”

Ashraf's journey with Kashmiri began when he left his native village in South Kashmir's Pulwama to pursue his education in Srinagar. He was struck by the way people in the city communicated.  “Not only young people, I saw even the elderly talking to the young in Urdu,” he says. What troubled Ashraf most was the derogatory term “gaamik (rustic)”, used to describe those who spoke Kashmiri.

This experience had a profound effect on him. He felt compelled to challenge the stigma surrounding Kashmiri language. In early 2021, he started his YouTube and began by sharing videos of Kashmir poetry. Ashraf gradually expanded his content to include videos of his travels across Kashmir, where he speaks with people and tells stories about local customs and traditions in his native language. 

Touqeer Ashraf Touqeer Ashraf

The response has been above and beyond expectations. The interactive style of social media has enabled Ashraf to reach a larger audience. Today, his YouTube channel has over 51,000 subscribers, while his Instagram page has 120,000 followers.

Ashraf says, "The painful consequence in this decline of our language is the threat to our literature and oral traditions. Who will read the verses of Sheikh Noor-ud-din (RA), Mahmood Gami, Rasul Mir, Lal Ded, and Mehjoor when their language no longer lives among us?" 

He quotes a Kashmiri proverb, "Kaesheer saeten kashir saeri, nat waeraneik hearaan kaav," which translates to: "By speaking Kashmiri language we are Kashmiris. Otherwise, we are lost birds in the wilderness."

Orphaned Tongues: Saving India's Dying Languages

BY Rakhi Bose

Adbi Markaz Kamraz Leads The Way

At the forefront of promoting and preserving the Kashmiri language is Adbi Markaz Kamraz (AMK), the oldest and largest cultural and literary organisation in J&K. It is headquartered in North Kashmir’s Baramulla. Through its 28 member organisations, AMK organises literary festivals, conferences, seminars, poetic symposiums, book releases, and group discussions.

In a bid to take the Kashmiri language to the global stage, AMK has launched a campaign to persuade Google to include Kashmiri in its translation services. To make the campaign popular, the AMK changed Kashmir’s age-old saying – Yus Kareh Gungul, Suea Kareh Kraav to Yus Kareh Google, Sea Karteh Kraav. The original Kashmiri saying suggests that whoever makes an effort to sow, shall eventually be able to reap. The new saying, carved out of a subtle modification of the ancient proverb, would mean – whoever googles will eventually harvest.

Adbi Markaz Kamraz (AMK) office Adbi Markaz Kamraz (AMK) office

AMK's 44th Annual Conference in November 2024, concluded with a strong appeal to the government to grant classical status to the Kashmiri language.  Amin Bhat, who heads the Markaz, told Outlook that the memorandum for the declaration of Kashmiri as a classical language has been submitted to the government of J&K.

"Kashmiri language has a rich treasure of literature spread over more than seven hundred years in published form," Bhat says."The language has produced poets of international standard like Lalded and Sheikhul Alam in the fourteenth century AD." "The Kashmiri language meets all the criteria for classical language status”

Bhat strongly believes that one's mother tongue should be saved at any cost. "When a language dies, its people lose that culture's playbook and ways of being," he says. "The intellect of society, saved from years in the form of proverbs, is also lost. Language itself is often the only way to convey a community's folklore, stories, and poems."

As endangered languages specialist K David Harrison investigates in his book When Languages Die, the last speakers of a language often feel a sense of isolation, while the community feels the loss of something more significant. 

Bhat says that no organisation or effort can save a language unless parents speak it to their children. "It has to start at home," he says. For Bhatkkbet, Kashmiri language is the very fabric that binds Kashmiriyat, the cultural identity of the Kashmiri people, together. "The thread that binds Kashmiriyat is our language Koshur, Kashmiri," he says.