Answers: Language and Conflict
February 21 is recognised by the United Nations as International Mother Language Day to promote and celebrate linguistic and cultural diversity. It honours protesting students who were shot and killed by police in then East Pakistan on February 21, 1952. They were opposing the Pakistani state’s imposition of Urdu as the sole official language on the overwhelmingly Bengali-speaking East Pakistan. The language movement finally led to the breakup of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.
This quiz looks at how linguistic differences have fostered gridlock and secessionism, the arbitrary boundaries created by colonisation and the geographic spread of the occupier’s language, the state’s dilemma on whether to prioritise a single working language or expand regional linguistic autonomy, the autocratic instinct to emphasise one central language and suppress others and how language has been wielded as a cultural and political tool to weaken minority rights.
Answers
1) 11 Bengali-speaking protesters were killed in police firing at a railway station on May 19, 1961. They were opposing a new law that made the dominant language in their state the sole official administrative language and the medium of instruction in schools, even though their region within the state was predominantly Bengali-speaking. Where? (Looking for a specific answer). This linguistic/ethnic conflict has contemporary overtones.
Silchar in the predominantly Bengali-speaking Barak Valley, a region of India’s Assam state, where the dominant language is Assamese. More here, here and here. The Bengali-Assamese schism with ethnic, linguistic and later religious overtones was shaped by colonial boundaries and exacerbated by independence and partition in 1947. The latest fault line is the Citizenship Amendment Act enacted by the Narendra Modi government, as both West Bengal and Assam hold assembly elections in March and April.
2) This country’s constitution completed in 2002 was drafted in the language of the coloniser who had left in 1975. This language became one of two official languages, the other being the indigenous language of Tetum. While the former coloniser’s language was to be used in public venues, only 5 percent of the population could speak it at the time. This has led to confusion and difficulties in following proceedings in public spheres such as schools, courts and parliament. Name the country and the language.
East Timor and Portuguese. Indonesia annexed East Timor in 1976. Jakarta’s often-brutal rule ended with more violence following an independence referendum in 1999. More here, here and here.
3) This country has limped along amid long-standing bitter divisions over language. 1968 marked the flashpoint that set the tone for the years ahead. The country’s oldest university (dating back to the 15th century) faced protests and riots involving students who argued their language was being sidelined, even though their community dominated the region where the university was located. Faculty and students speaking the rival language (which was the officially dominant one) had to leave the campus. A new city had to be built to house a new university for those forced out. Name the country and the two languages.
Belgium. The languages are Dutch and French. The university is the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the oldest surviving Catholic university in the world. French-speakers had to move to the new Université catholique de Louvain. More here and here.
4) This country imposed another language along with English as a compulsory medium of instruction in schools in 1974. Anger among Black students who had no background in the language led to mass protests in 1976. Several demonstrating students were shot dead by police. Images from the crackdown travelled around the world, leading to international condemnation of the killings. Name the country and the language that angered the protesters
South Africa. The language introduced was Afrikaans. The protests and killings took place in Soweto in 1976.
5) This former Belgian colony had two official languages - French and an indigenous language. English was added later despite the fact that the country had no Anglophone colonial history. By 2008 the government moved to replace French with English in schools, despite a vast number of teachers not speaking the language. In 2009 the country joined the Commonwealth, accelerating its move away from its Francophone heritage. Name the country.
6) About 80 percent of this country speaks French and the government is dominated by Francophones. English is the main language in the remaining part of the country, which was merged with the rest after a UN-backed referendum in 1961. This region, unlike the rest, had been controlled by the British. A separatist movement has gained momentum in the English-speaking region in recent years. They allege marginalisation and accuse the government of trying to forcibly assimilating them by assigning French-speaking judges and teachers to their region. Name the country.
7) At the time of independence, what became this country’s national language was the mother tongue of only 4 percent of the population. Historically the language was not spoken in any of the country’s regions. Immigration has boosted the number of native speakers but even now it’s the first language of less than 10 percent of the country’s population. Name the country and language.
Pakistan and Urdu. More here and here
8) 1995 saw a referendum on separation in a province linguistically distinct from the rest of the country. Voters in the province narrowly voted against independence (50.6%-49.4%). Name the province and country.
Quebec and Canada. More here, here and here
9) Greece and the ‘Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ reached a deal in 2018 that involved FYROM changing its name to North Macedonia. While the new name seemed to have opened the door to European Union membership talks, another neighbour blocked North Macedonia’s path last year. This neighbour insists that Macedonian is a dialect of its language and thus should not get the status of a EU language. It also says the Macedonian ethnicity is a sub-group of its main community, a claim rejected by North Macedonia. Name the neighbour who brought EU negotiations to a halt.
Bulgaria. More here, here and here.
10) This country decided on two official languages after independence, one of them being English for a transitional period. But government-backed moves by proponents of the other language to eliminate English altogether when the 15-year transition period ended resulted in a violent pushback with slogans such as ‘————-never, English ever’. The government had to retreat and English stayed as one of two official languages. Name the country and the other official language.
India. The slogan ‘Hindi never, English ever’ was coined by Tamil-speaking protesters in the 1960s who successfully pushed back against the prospect of Hindi being the sole official language. More here and here. Besides English and Hindi, India has 22 recognised languages known as ‘scheduled’ languages, a list that includes Tamil.
11) In 2019 a North African country’s Parliament approved a bill giving official status to a historically marginalised but widely spoken language, in addition to Arabic. Its Tifinagh alphabet is now on public buildings alongside French and Arabic. In recent years a neighbouring country has also given this language official status. In a third country in the region, civil war and the lack of an effective central government has enabled de facto autonomy for cities and towns dominated by speakers of this language over the past decade. Name the language.
Amazigh (Berber). The first country mentioned in the question is Morocco, the second Algeria and the third Libya. More about Amazigh New Year or Yennayer here and here.
12) In 2017, the language spoken by Russia’s second-largest ethnic group was downgraded from mandatory to optional in schools, in the region dominated by that ethnic group. That same year the extensive autonomy the region had enjoyed under a 1994 deal with Boris Yeltsin was allowed to lapse by Moscow. Name the language.
Tatar is the name of the language and ethnic group and the region is Tatarstan. More here and here.
13) After a military coup in 1980 this country banned the use of a minority language in public. Music in the language was also banned. While this blanket ban was lifted in 1991, the language has still heavily restricted and could not be taught in schools. Reforms that began in 2012 allowed the language as an elective in schools. Two years later election campaigning could be conducted in that language. But restrictions have been tightened again over the past few years. Name the country and the language.
Turkey and Kurdish. More on the 2012 reforms here and subsequent rollbacks here and here.
14) Gagauzia is a region in a post-Soviet country that is dominated by a Turkic Orthodox Christian community, a rarity in the Turkic world. The Turkic language of Gagauz is an official language, though Russian is widely used. Moscow has been playing an influential role in the region (with some competition from Turkey lately). The region has historically resisted the influence of the main language spoken in the country it’s a part of. Name the post-Soviet state Gagauzia belongs to.
Moldova. More on Gagauzia’s fragile ties to Moldova here, here and here.
And here’s a recent Al Jazeera English report from Gagauzia.