Danuwar language endangered

The language and culture of the indigenous Danuwar people is on the verge of extinction due to lack of its preservation and promotion.

The language of this minority indigenous community will soon die if the government does not take immediate measures to preserve it.

According to the census of 2001, out of a population of some 1,500 Danuwars in the district, only 0.6 percent spoke their mother tongue. This shows that the Danuwar language is slowly dying out.

Danuwar language which falls under the Tibeto-Burman language family, is dying out as the organisations formed for the protection of the language and culture and for promoting ethnic identity are also doing very little in that connection, said Ananta Danuwar, a teacher.

Local village elders say that Danuwar language used to be spoken widely in Katari, Risku, Bhumarsuwa and other villages with majority Danuwar settlements until some two decades back. But the number of people speaking this language has drastically gone down.

Although the government has the policy of providing education to the children in their mother language in different places of the country, there is not a single school in Udayapur district teaching the Danuwar language.

source :thehimalayantimes