Zekarias Ezra
Beside an internationally recognized physical boundary, a name, a flag, or a currency, what makes a country a country and a nation is but its national language.
Despite attempts to down play it, a national language is a clear indicator that represents the national identity of a country. Indeed, language is a sensitive issue. It is sensitive because it’s not only part of a nation but also a person’s heritage. Fluency in the national language will surely enable the person to fully understand that community’s particular nuances and cultural aspects.
National language is a driving force behind unity of the nation’s people, and makes them distinct from other nations. Fluency in the national language will surely help foster a shared sense of national identity. Giving respect to one’s national language means that it should be one’s primary language, as well as the preferred source of communication at every level. This does not mean that one should not use his/her native tongue or even know as many languages as one can absorb.
History is replete of leaders who tried their best to strengthen the national language. China’s revolutionary leader Mao Zedong was such a leader. In fact, despite knowing many other languages, he never used them, in his official addresses, and preferred to use Chinese as his medium of communication.
When language differences are over blown and used as critical points of differences, they will create division and contention and even lead to a disintegration of a nation. Language Movement was the main cause for the separation of one part of Pakistan into Bangladesh.
The 1973 constitution of Pakistan promulgated Urdu to be the national language of Pakistan and mandated that Urdu be used for official and other purposes in the place of English within 15 years. Yet, fast forward to today, because of a lack of a concerted effort to make Urdu a national language as set out by the constitution, English (the colonial language) continues to be the de facto national language for official purposes. Consequently, Pakistan is witnessing an increase in the number of youth whose command of the Urdu language seems to be on a downward trend — in fact far removed from their indigent national language. On the other hand, English is becoming the symbol of the upper class elite and an inaccurate benchmark by which one’s literacy is judged. The same phenomenon is increasingly being seen in Ethiopia and particularly in Addis.
A cursory reading of world history provides ample evidence that countries that respect their own national language has demonstrably excelled in economy and development. Take Germany and China which love their language and literature and still are more developed and stronger than those which do not do so.
I am not arguing, to be clear, that the Ethiopian people should stop using and developing the more than 80 languages in favor of Amharic. On the contrary, these languages should be studied and developed. Yet, the government should reverse course and make a serious effort to cultivate and encourage the use of Amharic language as the country’s national language. After all, Amharic is an indigent Ethiopian language which is widely spoken and has served and continue to serve as the official national language of the country.
If good faith prevails, it is my hope and prayer Ethiopia will not follow suit of India, Pakistan or all other countries who adopted their colonizers languages instead of their national language.
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