Today, on World Language Day, as we celebrate the beauty and diversity of languages across the globe, let us pause for a moment and reflect on our own mother tongue, Kashmiri, which is fading day by day.

Language is not just a means of communication; it carries within it the soul of a community, the bridge between generations, and the wisdom of our ancestors. Our Kashmiri language, once spoken with pride and affection, is now struggling for survival.

If we do not act now, we will witness the silent death of our own language, and with it, a vital part of our identity.For centuries, Kashmiri has echoed through the valleys and homes of our people, carrying the spiritual wisdom of Lalleshwari, the mysticism of Nund Rishi, and the warmth of our traditions.

But today, it is slipping away. The displacement of our community, the dominance of other languages, and the influence of modernity have pushed it to the margins. Many of our younger generations can barely speak Kashmiri, and in our own homes, we have unknowingly replaced it with Hindi, English, or other languages.

This slow erasure is dangerous, for when a language disappears, so does a culture, a history, and an entire way of life.Our mother tongue is not just a collection of words; it is the heartbeat of our collective existence, the sacred thread that binds us to our past.

It is the language in which our ancestors spoke their prayers, sang their songs, and shared their stories. Losing it means distancing ourselves from that sacred past, leaving our future generations without the roots that define them. Can we bear the thought that our children will one day read the verses of Lalleshwari only in translation?

Can we accept that they may struggle to understand the hymns and traditions that have shaped our existence for centuries? If we allow our mother tongue to fade, we are betraying our ancestors and depriving our children of a priceless inheritance.As a displaced community, we have already lost our homes, our temples, and our lands.

But if we lose our language, we lose ourselves. Exile has already taken us away from our homeland; let us not allow it to take away our language too. Our identity as Kashmiri Pandits, our cultural ethos, and our traditions are all woven into the words we speak.

Every home must become a sanctuary where our language is nurtured, where our children hear and speak in Kashmiri, where the echoes of our past are kept alive in the voices of our future. If we do not embrace our language, who else will? If we do not fight for its survival, who else will carry it forward?Languages do not die in a day; they fade away slowly, slipping from conversations, disappearing from homes, and eventually vanishing into history.

We must not let this happen to Kashmiri. Let us take a pledge today, on this World Language Day, to speak, preserve, and pass on our Kashmiri mother tongue. Let us revive our poetry, our folk songs, our proverbs, and our stories.

Let us make it a living, breathing presence in our daily lives, so that it thrives not just in nostalgia but in reality. A language that has survived for centuries must not be allowed to fade into silence. The time to act is now. We are Kashmir, we are Kashmiri, and we will not let our language disappear.

” We Kashmiri, we must speak Kashmiri, understand our mother language, preserve and protect it” [ Kundan Kashmiri] Kashmir watcher, Freelance writer & President Kashmiri Pandit Conference ( KPC) — Email kundankashmiri@gnail.com Mobile No 8802157955