Dying Shina language finds a saviour, after all

Dying Shina language finds a saviour, after all
A Gilgit university steps in to help preserve the widely spoken language
Shabbir Mir

Gilgit, Sep 06: The Karakorum International University (KIU) has stepped in to rescue Gilgit- Baltistan’s major dialect - Shina - from extinction. Shina, the dominant language being spoken by approximately 60 percent people of this region, and also spoken in parts of Indian Kashmir, is facing danger of extinction because of lack of patronage by the government and the civil society’s insufficient contribution in the erstwhile Northern Areas, where a package of political reforms unveiled recently by the Prime Minister upgraded its status and made it equivalent to that of a province.

Interestingly, Shina has no recognized alphabets in published form, though some of the individuals did try to invent and establish them. This widely spoken dialect has never been part of a school curriculum in Gilgit-Baltistan, inhabited by about two million people - and it is feared that the influence of other languages such as Urdu is diluting it, even threatening its existence. Realizing first time the gravity of the situation, the university management recently decided to get involved and initiate work on its preservation. In this connection, on Thursday, KIU in collaboration with SIL, an international NGO and 'Language and Culture Promotion Society', a regional NGO, held a workshop in the university to look at the option as to what best could be done to promote Shina.

The workshop will end September 7 with certain recommendations coming from the participants who are none but professionals, students and researchers from KIU, the lone university of Gilgit-Baltistan established during Pakistan’s military dictator Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharaf regime in 2002.

Currently, KIU is catering to educational needs of about 3500 students, besides having more than 150 teaching and over 250 administration staff. According to Wikipedia, Shina (also known as Tshina) is a Dardic language spoken by a plurality of people in Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan. The valleys in which it is spoken include Astore, Chilas, Dareil, Tangeer, Gilgit, Ghizer and a few parts of Baltistan and Kohistan. It is also spoken in Gurez, Drass, Kargil, Karkit Budgam and Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir. Back in Gilgit, the region’s headquarter, the individuals who espoused the cause of Shina from time to time include Professor Usman, Professor Amin Zia and Shakil Ahmed Shakil but their efforts remained unrecognized officially.

Last year, the 'Shina Language and Culture Promotion Society' launched some books in Shina language including "Dadii Shilooke" meaning grandmother's precious stories, "Folktales in the Shina of Gilgit", "Shina Urdu Angreezi Boal Chaal" and "Alkhaanoo Bijoon" with an objective to promote Shina among the youth.

Shakil Ahmad Shakil, a well respected linguist of Gilgit had authored the rare books but a number of linguists say that the attempt was good but unlikely to bring a drastic change vis-à-vis Shina status unless the cause is supported by the government.

As for KIU efforts, the new initiative of the university has raised people’s hopes who believe that this will at least lay foundations for further progress of the dialect. Titled “Linguistics and Socio- Linguistics - base of Orthography Development” the workshop was addressed by Dr Najma Najam, KIU Vice-Chancellor who replaced Dr Aziz Ali Najam this year. The VC said they would establish a research centre in its campus and the Modern Languages Department of KIU would spearhead the joint efforts.