Language and Human Rights – Paradigm Shift

Abstract

Language is a geographical, religious and cultural representation of a person on a global stage. The right to speak and write a language that one inherits and prefers to adopt as a means of communication is guaranteed by UN resolutions but very often this basic right of ethnic minorities is denied by the tyrannical majorities. When we consider the social mobilization of various groups within this framework we see that religion as a social resource equates with language. Religious affiliation assigned to a language is one among many other factors which lead people to commit atrocities against the marginalized social groups. In such cases, children are the biggest victims of all. Language is directly related to the idea of basic education as well. Linguistic victimization has affects schooling in many parts of the world. Additional problems are caused by the constant wars fought around the world in our age. War zones keep on emerging to displace people who then become victims of linguistic and economic harassment in the land of asylums. Those trapped in the war zones, like people currently in Ukraine and in Gaza, see total destruction of their educational institutions and consequently the destruction of their basic rights to life, property, geographical territory, culture and language. Our languages are social contexts of our cultural and economic viability. Cultural and economic forces contribute to language maintenance and also define its lexical shifts. Our education policies have largely failed because we prefer to counter the prevailing social forces and remain reluctant to assimilate them into our mainstream school curricula. Without the understanding of the linguistic shifts which are in turn political, as well as the cultural shifts, we cannot hope for peace in our war zones. Without peace there are no human rights. Keywords: UN Resolution, nationism, linguistic profiles, war zones, ethnic nationalism, Catalan linguistic policy, Basque Provinces, South Asia, Bangladesh.