World Freedom Day: Linguistic freedom still lags in policy despite India’s multilingual spirit

Hyderabad: Every year, World Freedom Day (November 9) commemorates the fall of the Berlin Wall, a moment that symbolised the triumph of human liberty over political division.

While it marks a global milestone in democratic freedom, the day also invites reflection on subtler forms of independence, including the freedom to speak, write and think in one’s own language.

Linguistic identity and freedom

Across India, linguistic identity remains deeply tied to self-expression and cultural dignity.

“Language is the first and most personal form of freedom. When you lose your language, you lose your ability to define the world in your own terms,” said Dr Meera Raghavan, linguist and visiting fellow at the Centre for Endangered Languages, Mysuru University, speaking to NewsMeter.

The Indian Context: A multilingual democracy

India is home to over 19,500 languages and dialects, according to the Census of India, but only 22 languages are officially recognised in the Constitution’s Eighth Schedule. Many indigenous and tribal languages continue to fade due to urbanisation, migration and lack of institutional support.

“Multilingualism is India’s reality, but policy and infrastructure haven’t caught up,” noted Prof. AK Menon, language policy researcher. “The right to education in one’s mother tongue is not just cultural preservation, it’s a matter of equality.”

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has proposed teaching in regional languages at the foundational level, but experts point out that teacher training and curriculum development remain key challenges in ensuring implementation.

When language becomes resistance

India’s linguistic movements have historically been intertwined with struggles for political and social freedom.

• The Anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu during the 1960s opposed the imposition of a single national language and asserted the cultural independence of the Tamil people.

• The linguistic reorganisation of states in 1956, beginning with the creation of Andhra Pradesh, reflected people’s demand to be governed in the language they spoke.

• In the northeast, efforts to preserve Khasi, Mizo, Manipuri and Naga languages are closely linked to questions of regional identity and self-rule.

“Language movements in India were, in essence, movements for dignity,” explained Dr Indrani Das, sociolinguist. “They showed that freedom isn’t complete if people cannot think or dream in their own language.”

Endangered Voices: The vanishing lexicon

UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger lists 197 Indian languages as vulnerable or endangered. Languages like Bo and Great Andamanese have only a handful of speakers left.

In contrast, community-driven efforts have revived languages such as Santali, Bodo, and Kokborok through local schools and radio initiatives. “Revival doesn’t always require large budgets; it begins with use,” said Dr Das. “When parents start telling bedtime stories in their native tongue again, that’s the first step to survival.”

Language loss often leads to the disappearance of ecological and medicinal knowledge stored in oral traditions. Anthropologists have found that indigenous communities in Odisha and Jharkhand, for instance, classify hundreds of plant species with names that do not exist in mainstream Indian languages, knowledge that fades as fluency declines.

Technology and the new tongues of freedom

Digital platforms are emerging as modern tools for linguistic independence. From YouTube tutorials in tribal languages to Santali Wikipedia pages, speakers are reclaiming space online.

The introduction of Unicode scripts and regional language keyboards has allowed communities to document literature and folk songs more widely. “For the first time, smaller languages can bypass traditional publishing barriers,” said Dr Raghavan. “Digital literacy is now a form of linguistic freedom.”

Examples include Santali gaining script support on Google Input Tools and Kumaoni and Garhwali creators running social media poetry circles to encourage youth participation.

Freedom to translate, not just speak

The right to language also extends to the right to translate, allowing ideas to move across linguistic boundaries. In recent years, Indian publishing has seen a surge in translations from Tamil, Malayalam, Assamese and Marathi into English.

“Translation is the bridge between visibility and survival,” said Manisha Varrier, literary translator. “When regional stories are translated, they don’t just reach new readers; they assert the legitimacy of the language itself.”

This trend has helped regional literature gain national and international recognition, reinforcing the idea that linguistic diversity is cultural wealth, not fragmentation.

Global lessons in linguistic freedom

Around the world, language has played a central role in post-colonial and cultural liberation movements.

• In Wales, bilingual education and Welsh-language media helped reverse decades of decline.

• In New Zealand, Māori immersion schools known as Kohanga Reo led to a generation of fluent speakers.

• In South Africa, recognising 11 official languages became part of rebuilding equality after apartheid.

Each example reflects the same principle: that freedom includes the ability to express reality in one’s own words.

The road ahead

On this World Freedom Day, the focus on linguistic rights adds a vital layer to the global conversation on liberty. True freedom is not limited to borders or constitutions; it begins in the vocabulary through which people name their world.

As Dr Meera Raghavan observed, “When a language dies, a way of seeing the world dies with it. Protecting it is not nostalgia, it’s the protection of freedom itself.”

India’s challenge, then, lies not only in preserving democracy but in preserving the words through which democracy speaks.