The NWFP has always been in limelight, but for wrong
reasons. From the British raj’s Afghan wars in eighteenth century to
Russian invasion in 1979 and American ouster of Taliban from Kabul in 2002, NWFP
had been pivotal to the imperialistic designs, as it provides road access to
Afghanistan. Later, the emergence of local Taliban and militancy, itself a
product of 30 years long Afghan war, put the Frontier on the map of world, as
the bastion of terrorism.
The media stereotyping put the beautiful aspects
of its culture, history and people on the backburner and nowadays world knows
the people of the Frontier as mere suicide bombers and terrorists. However,
there are many a remarkable traits and cultural aspects, which only the
Frontier could claim and linguistic diversity of the province is
one of such traits.
There are around 69 languages are spoken
in Pakistan, 26 out of these spoken in NWFP, and 12
languages in Chitral district alone. According to Frontier
Language Institute (FLI) Bateri (20,000), Chillaso (2,000), Gowro (200)
and Kohistani (200,000) are spoken in Indus Kohistan.
Chitral district, according to
renowned Norwegian linguistic Georg Morgenstierne, was the
area with the highest linguistic diversity in the world. The languages give the
district a unique flavor of socio-cultural richness and ethno-linguistic
diversity. Dameli (2,000), Gawar-Bati (200), Kalasha (3,000), Khowar
(200,000), Palula (2,000), Wakhi (2,000), Yidgha (2,000) and Kam-Kataviri
(2,000) are the languages spoken in district.
Kalasha is the mother tongue of
the famed and mysterious race of Kalasha living in the valleys of Rambur,
Bomboret and Berir, while Kam-Kataviri is
of the Nuristani people. Nuristanis are the people believed to
be subject of a Kipling story “The Man Who Would Be King” which
was adapted as motion picture starring Sean Connery in 1975. Unlike Kalasha who
are known as the black Kafirs (infidels) due to the black outfit they wear;
Nuristanis are known as Red Kafirs due to the red color of their skin.
While, Domakki (200) Hunza, Shina
(200,000) Gilgit, Balti (200,000) Baltistan, Burushaski (20,000) Hunza, Nagar
and Yasin, Kashmiri, Kundal Shahi and Pahari-Potwari are
spoken in Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir.
Gwari (20,000) is spoken in Swat
and Upper Dir, while Torwali (20,000) and
Ushojo (200) are spoken in Swat, while Kalkoti
(2,000) is spoken in Dir Kohistan and Ormuri
(2,000) is spoken in South Waziristan.
Pashto and Gojari are
spoken throughout the region and Hindko is spoken in Peshawar,
Kohat and Kashmir. However, as most of these languages are spoken by small
communities, therefore, qualify for categories of languages near extinction and
threatened languages and it is need of the hour to preserve this marvelous part
of our ethno-linguistic heritage.
* Number within brackets shows number of speakers
in excess of the number.
Source: http://pakistaniat.com/2008/05/07/linguistic-diversity-in-nwfp/?cp=3
accessed on July 2, 2012
