Chapter 1: The Last Lesson

“When people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language, it is as if they had the key to their prison.” Examples of conquered people having their language taken away or having a language imposed on them can be found throughout history.

1. Imposition of English in India during colonization by Britain.

2. Imposition of Chinese in Tibet

3. Arabization in North Africa (imposition of Islam and so, imposition of Muslim languages)

4. Imposition of French in Britain (Francization)

5. Turkish imposed on Kurds

In any state, the linguistic minority is easily identified and faces the same discrimination as religious, social, or ethnic minorities. However, there is a significant disparity between the treatment meted out and the level of acceptance displayed by the majority community in that region. Some cities, such as Delhi and Mumbai, have a cosmopolitan outlook.

The linguistic minority attempts to preserve its identity through intimate contact, interaction, and language preservation in social gatherings, family functions, and regional festivals. Adherence to social customs and traditions in family gatherings and women’s meetings fosters unity among members of the linguistic minority. In a nutshell, they have built a mini-Punjab in Bangalore, a mini-Chennai in Mumbai, a mini-Bangalore in Delhi, and a mini-Surat in Kolkata.

People often take quite enough pride in their native tongues and repress others. This is incorrect as we should treat all languages and cultures equally.

Linguistic chauvinism refers to a person’s excessive pride in their native language. Being overly aggressive and fanatical about one’s language is referred to as carrying pride.