#Local level election special
- Shikhar Mohan
The constitution states that Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual nation. Article 6 states that all mother tongues are the national languages of Nepal. But in the local elections, the issue of language protection has received less priority in the election agenda of the major political parties.
Language engineer Deepak Tuladhar says, "Let's vote only for the candidate and the party who want to teach the local language in the school." It protects the language, culture, heritage and identity of the whole country. Other things are developed according to the budget. 'In every state in India, the local language is used in schools, colleges and offices, so the language and identity are alive there. He said that Nepal should also learn. The identity of the nation is the languages of the country.
Kathmandu Valley is a predominantly Nepali speaking area. Even the representatives here do not seem to have made this language their election agenda. Asked about this, Nepali language engineer Deepak Tuladhar said that the use of mother tongue in election propaganda is very low. Until the last election, it was much higher. Not only Newar candidates but also non-Newar candidates had printed pamphlets. Sometimes it was written, but it seemed to be done. This time around, Tuladhar has seen very little experience.
Election Commission advertisements were not seen on radio or television in other languages. Tuladhar says, “First of all, our friends thought that the Election Commission should also campaign in the local language, so they went to give the memorandum. That is why it was preached in the local language. ” But this time, the candidates and the Election Commission have not been able to produce campaign materials in the local language. According to Tuladhar, he saw Keshav established in the election campaign and Sunita Dangol's Facebook campaign in Nepali language.
"If the state and the candidates at the local level had spread their agenda in the local language, the public awareness would have increased a bit. In the past, miking was also done in the local language according to the region, ”he says. Now it seems that the linguistic engineers concerned have not intervened. ” However, he says that he will continue the Nepali language education started by Kathmandu Metropolitan City no matter which mayor comes.
Similarly, linguist Amrit Yonjan said that the use of Tamang language has not been included in the agenda and propaganda material of the parties so far. He says, “But a singer asked for a few words in the Tamang language to translate the promotional material. They have been translating and preparing the radio propaganda material of the Election Commission. ” He said that even though local language was used in the election campaign, mother tongue was not on the agenda.
Similarly, according to media person Buddha Yonjan, no material in mother tongue has been prepared and put on the agenda so far. "It is known that a group of singers from Kavre's Temal village composed an election song in the Tamang language, but that is not the mother tongue agenda." He says, "This is an election song. The candidate has not said that he will do this about the language. ” He says that the script will not be used in the election but the language will be used.
According to Yonjan, politicians do not do any work related to mother tongue during elections. They only carry the flag of a political party. He says, “Our initiative this year is to have the mother tongue agenda carried by the local leaders. But so far no one was able to send in the perfect solution, which is not strange. "
What do the candidates say?
BP Sah, the mayoral candidate of Siraha's Sabaila municipality from the Janmat Party, said that the language agenda was included in the commitment letter and that it was included in education. He said that the municipality which wants to teach mother tongue should have its own agenda.
"But in most of the community schools, due to the rural mentality in those schools, the interest in English has increased and the student attraction has decreased." Sah says, "We have made an agenda to keep English in the community schools as the number of students in the community is declining and the number of students in the private schools is declining." According to him, the local government is autonomous in teaching subjects according to its language policy.
Sah said that the party's manifesto was made in Nepali language as well as in local language. “We have prepared material in Maithili language in this area. We have made promotional pamphlets in most of the Maithili languages in Madhes. Leaflet pamphlets have also been made in Bhojpuri language in some municipalities on the basis of linguistic multiplicity. ” He said that leaflets were prepared in Bhojpuri in Bara and Parsa. Now with digital promotional materials and some FM radios recording and promoting themselves, it has become easier. He emphasized that the professional language should be promoted while protecting and promoting the mother tongue.
Shivaji Yadav, a candidate for the post of chairman of Aurahi village municipality of Siraha from the Janata Samajwadi Party, said that the election manifesto was being made in Maithili. He says, “Our parents used to speak Maithili language, we are also using Maithili language. He said that he would use Maithili language in his office even if he did not make it his election agenda.
UML mayoral candidate for Ghorahi sub-metropolis Narulal Chaudhary said that he had not prepared campaign materials in his mother tongue. But the language of communication will be used according to the community, he said. “Ghorahi sub-metropolitan area is dominated by Tharu and Magar. There is also the presence of other castes in the region but for the protection and promotion of these languages we have prepared curricula and textbooks at school level and implemented them, ”he said. It is planned to prepare and teach the textbook soon. For that, the municipality has prepared the plan and allocated the budget and moved the program forward. This program is constantly moving forward. ” According to Chaudhary, who has been the mayor before, he has also received necessary suggestions from the center for the protection and promotion of the local caste and language.
Lajuram Chaudhary, a candidate for the post of Kailari village chairman of Kailali from the UCPN (Maoist) said that he would speak in the language of the community he goes to for campaigning. "The campaign materials in the mother tongue have not been prepared for the election campaign. Due to the alliance, we have not been able to prepare the material in the local language, ”he says.“ Some friends are in the process of preparing such material. It is planned to produce the material in Nepali as well as Tharu language. ”
Chaudhary, who has been the chairman of Kailari village municipality before, said that he has prepared a curriculum for reading in Tharu language and a book titled 'Hamar Kailali' for class one. He says, “I had made the election agenda in 2074 BS to make Tharu language the official language and to make provision for basic education in schools. That has already been implemented. ” His goal is to take it further.
He said that the roads in Tharuwan area were also named after the martyrs. In the Tharu language, the road is called Dagar. He also informed that the roads have been named as Jokhan Ratgainya Dagar and Chakra Bahadur Dangaura Dagar.
With just eight days to go before the election, it seems that only a few local languages have become the medium for general election campaign. It has also indicated the interest of the people's representatives in the preservation and promotion of the local language.
In the manifesto, the Congress has said that it will assimilate the identity of the specific linguistic region, preserve and promote the local language. He has taken the policy of preserving the language, script, culture and heritage of the local caste and community for social transformation. All languages, commentaries, scripts and records spoken in Nepal will be studied, researched and documented. Other parties have also covered some of the language.
The Language Commission has recommended to implement local mother tongue in different states. However, the teaching of mother tongue as a medium is not a priority of the local government. The Language Commission has objected to the statement of some parties in the manifesto giving priority to English language.
