Dogri
An alien in its own land

Dogri, the language of warriors, is struggling to find acceptance in its own land.
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria on the evolution and plight of the language

The 150-year-old Mubarak Mandi Palace complex in Jammu was the residence of Dogra rulers.

A scene from Dogri play Alhar Goli, Vir Sipahi. Dogri theatre has started giving actors to the film and TV industry.

Dogri language is surrounded by ironies. Popularly called the khand-meethi boli (language as sweet as sugar), this Indo-Aryan language is the language of warriors — Duggars.

An ancient language, Dogri first found mention in the works of Amir Khusro as far back as 1317, but in the place of its origin it is yet to find popularity.

Efforts have been made by the state’s leaders towards its social acceptance, the recent one by Congress MP Madan Lal Sharma, when he took oath in Dogri in the 15th Lok Sabha.

This effort yet again brought forth an interesting irony. While MPs are allowed to use the language in Parliament, back in its homeland both the BJP and the Panthers Party legislators had to seek special permission from the Speaker of the present state Legislative Assembly to take the oath in Dogri.

Though after a protracted struggle the language was included in the Eighth Schedule of India’s Constitution on December 22, 2003, it has to struggle for survival because of official apathy.

Apart from the official indifference, litt`E9rateurs of the ancient language attribute the "utter neglect" of Dogri to the reluctance on the part of Dogras to speak it with pride like Kashmiris speak their mother tongue.

One of the state languages of Jammu and Kashmir, Dogri was recognised as an "independent modern literary language" of India on August 2, 1969, by the Sahitya Akademi of Delhi.

Mainly spoken in the region of Jammu, Dogri is also spoken in some parts of northern Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

This ancient language, which has its own grammar and dictionary, also has a vast repertoire of literature comprising a magnificent array of poetry, fiction, prose, novels, short stories and plays. Under the poetry category alone, it has poets like Kavi Dattu dating back to the 18th century to present century Prof Ram Nath Shastri and poetess Padma Sachdev.

Kavi Dattu, who belonged to the court of Raja Ranjit Dev, is held in high esteem for his Barah Massa (twelve months), Kamal Netra (lotus eyes), Bhup Bijog, Bir Bilas and other works.

But sadly the language has not found favour with the present generation, laments MP Lal Singh, who was the first to take the oath in Dogri in the last Lok Sabha. He attributes this malady to shyness on the part of Dogras, who he says, "discourage their children to speak in their mother tongue".

Former Education Minister and Panthers Party leader Harsh Dev Singh says that lack of will on the part of the state leadership has resulted into this dismal scenario. Despite it being a state language, even today Dogri is not mentioned in the list of its official languages of the state Legislative Assembly. If members want to take the oath in Dogri, they have to take special permission from the Chair, he says.

The state Legislative Assembly only supplies performas in English and Urdu languages, adds Harsh Dev, while trying to drive home the point that the government has not done much to promote this language.

Despite its inclusion in the Indian Constitution, the 87-member state Assembly still has not come up with a two-third majority to pave way for a constitutional amendment so as to adopt Dogri as one of the official languages, he claims.

Founder of the Dogri Department in University of Jammu and one of the famous litterateurs of the language, Dr Champa Sharma also expresses regrets over the raw deal being meted out to the language.

Way back in 1991, the state government agreed to introduce the language in the higher secondary classes. An action committee was also framed but things didn’t move further, she recollects.

During the stint of the previous Congress-PDP government, a similar effort had been made when the government assured to introduce it as a subject in government colleges in all districts, she adds.

But even today in Government Colleges for Women in Gandhi Nagar and in Udhampur there have been only stop gap arrangements on a contractual basis, made by the government to teach Dogri.

In the 22 districts of the state, only three colleges — in Kathua, Jammu and Udhampur (boys college) — have a permanent Dogri teacher each.

The miserable plight could further be gauged from another cosmetic exercise by the government, which made Dogri a compulsory subject till primary classes but failed to provide language teachers.

Another prominent Dogri storywriter, who wished anonymity, felt Jammu missed strong and committed people like Prof Ram Nath Shastri, Dinu Bhai Pant, Sansar Chand Baru, Narayan Mishr and Bhagvad Prasad Sathe, who founded the Dogri Sanstha in 1944. Enthusiasm to promote the language died down because of political interference and hence the endeavour fizzled out before it could become a mass movement, he said

The Dogri Sanstha was formed in 1944 under the tutelage of Prof Ram Nath Shastri in association with J&K Akademi of Art, Culture and Languages and the Sahitya Akademi. It played a key role in the preservation and propagation of Dogra art, culture and language.

Even today, the sanstha is making valiant efforts to keep the language alive. It has been getting many Dogri works translated into other languages and vice-versa. It is also producing children’s literature and promoting writers, poets and artists.

Before the sanstha’s formation there were just four Dogri books available in printed form. These included: Rajawali- a Dogri translation of the Persion prose by Tahel Dass during 1785 - 1811, Dogri translation by Jyotshi Visheswar of ‘Leela Wati’- a treatise on mathematics by Bhaskracharya, published in 1873, Dogri translation of Bhagwadgeeta by Prof Gauri Shankar published from Lahore in 1934 and Dogri Bhajan Mala by Pandit Hrdutt in 1935.

Today, Dogri writers have been contributing in every sphere of literature. Dogri theatre, too, has made long strides and has started giving actors to the film and television industry.

However, a lot more needs to be done to promote the Dogra culture and language, which have lagged behind because of its own people, adds Dr Om Goswami, former Additional Secretary of the J&K Academy for Art, Culture and Languages and a storywriter.