Parliament Passes the 'Official Languages Bill'- Jammu & Kashmir
The parliament passed the Official Language Bill for the union territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, the decision was taken through a voice vote in Rajya Sabha.
Kashmiri, Dogri, English, Hindi, and Urda were given the status of the official languages under the bill.
G Kishan Reddy, the Minister of State (MoS) home affairs spoke during the discussions that how the bill was fulfilling the years-long wish of the people, by making these five languages the official ones for the UT.
From 1954 there were two languages in Jammu and Kashmir, Urdu and English, which were officially utilized for legislative work. The minister brought up that 53.26 per cent of the number of inhabitants in Jammu and Kashmir communicates in the Kashmiri language.
Reddy also mentioned that 26.64 per cent of the number of inhabitants in the UT speaks Dogri while Urdu, which is presently its official language, is spoken distinctly by 0.16 per cent which comprises to about 19 thousand people there. All things considered, throughout the previous 70 years, Urdu keeps on being the official language of Jammu and Kashmir, he stated, including that 2.36 per cent populace in the UT communicates in Hindi.
Union Minister and RPI-A pioneer Ramdas Athawale upheld the bill in his novel style by saying,
"Hume acchi lagti hai Dogri aur Kashmiri bhasha, Pak vyapt Kashmir Bharat me aaega ye hai humein aasha. Pakistan ka hum baja denge tasha, kyunki humein acchi lagti hai Dogri, Kashmiri bhasha."(DNA India)
The bill wasn’t any behind in receiving criticism from the opposition and other groups. Hasnain Masoodi mentioned that the central government doesn't have the administrative ability to outline a bill in such a manner. He said it's anything but a reality that lone 0.16 per cent population of the UT communicates in Urdu which is a connecting language between the Jammu area and Kashmir.
Masoodi said on the off chance that lone 0.16 per cent individuals in the UT communicate in Urdu, at that point for what reason would the legislature incorporate it as an official language. No other state has five authority dialects.
There was even a question raised on the elimination of Punjabi and Gojri, by the Sikh and Gujjar communities in the bill.