NC MLA seeks mandatory Kashmiri in schools, decries neglect
Srinagar: National Conference legislator Mubarak Gul has called for making Kashmiri a mandatory subject in schools across Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, bringing the question of the preservation and institutional promotion of the territory’s indigenous language into the Legislative Assembly.
Raising the issue during the ongoing Assembly session, Gul sought concrete measures to ensure that Kashmiri is taught to students in schools across the territory, stressing the need to protect and promote the language among younger generations.
The demand assumes particular significance against the backdrop of continuing shortcomings in the teaching of Kashmiri.
Earlier this year, the IIOJK government informed the Assembly that only five of 27 sanctioned lecturer posts for Kashmiri in higher secondary schools of the Kashmir division were filled, leaving 22 vacant. It also stated that Kashmiri was not being taught as a subject in schools in the Jammu region.
The gap between recognition and implementation is further underscored by the fact that Kashmiri has been recognised as one of the official languages of the territory, while the availability of teachers and institutional teaching of the language remain limited.
The issue surfaced in the Assembly itself when Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather said proceedings conducted in Kashmiri could not be officially recorded because translators were not available.
