By Muna Chand
Kathmandu, February 21
International Mother Language Day is being celebrated today by organizing various programs.
February 21 has been marked as the International Mother Language Day since 2000 after the United Nations General Assembly declared the day in 1999.
In Nepal, the celebration of International Mother Language Day has been started since 2066 BS (2010). A study has revealed that every 15 days two languages are being disappeared in the world.
To preserve and protect mother languages, especially the disappearing ones, the Nepal
Academy, Language Commission and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) are jointly organizing a festival of poetry in mother language and a
cultural procession of different ethnic communities today.
On the occasion, the three organizations hosted a talk program entitled ‘Mother Language and Mother Language Literature’ on Sunday.
Four working papers were presented on the occasion. During the program, it was informed that out of 37 languages with less than one thousand speakers in Nepal, 23 languages are in critical condition. Emphasis was also placed on the need to work for the preservation of those languages.
