BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – As the only indigenous language in the country, it is important for Emaswati to promote and protect this language.
This was said today by Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini when making an address on his Facebook page. He was commemorating the International Mother Language Day. Addressing the nation in SiSwati, the Premier said SiSwati was a language that was coined with respect in mind. He said respect was something that was embedded in the SiSwati language.
Dlamini said Emaswati could remember this day in their homes, work places or any other places where they could be. He also pleaded with Emaswati to encourage their children to love SiSwati and be proud of the language. He said that was important so that the language could not be lost among Emaswati because it provided a medium of communication among Emaswati.
The Prime Minister said Government supported this day. By the time of writing this report, his address had garnered 65 comments. Many of those comments praised the PM for encouraging Emaswati to promote and protect SiSwati. Others had their concerns, as they wanted the education sector to be improved.
A certain Facebooker stated that no person had ever been employed for knowing how to Speak SiSwati. What was interesting was that the PM responded to that Facebooker. The Premier told him that what he said was not true. He said it was needed for one to know SiSwati in order to work for the SiSwati Channel of Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Services (EBIS).
He said the same was true for a person who wanted to work for the country’s television stations. The PM also stated that Public Relations Officers and other Communications Officers of certain organisations in the country needed to know SiSwati in order to communicate with Emaswati. He further reminded this Facebooker that there were opportunities for people to be actors who spoke SiSwati in many soapies even in South Africa.
There were other opportunities for those who wrote SiSwati stories and novels, which were read by pupils in schools all over the country. These, according to the PM, were just a few examples showing that SiSwati could present employment opportunities for many people.
The Prime Minister also assured another Facebooker that he was making his address from his heart. He was not reading from anything. He said this after the Facebooker suspected that the Premier was reading from a teleprompter. The people commenting on his address were also amazed that the PM took time to read their comments and respond to them.
According to Wikipedia, The date of 21 February was declared to be International Mother Language Day by UNESCO on November 17, 1999. It has been observed throughout the world since 21 February 2000. The declaration came up in tribute to the Language Movement done by the Bangladeshis (then the East Pakistanis).
When Pakistan was created in 1947, it was divided into two separate parts, which included East Pakistan (Bangladesh) and West Pakistan (Pakistan). These parts of Pakistan were separated by India, which was between them. These parts were very different, in terms of their culture and language.
In 1948, the Government of Pakistan declared Urdu as the only national language of Pakistan, yet Bengali was widely spoken in the then East Pakistan. The people of East Pakistan protested and demanded that Bengali should be added as an official language, together with Urdu. In response, the Pakistani Government outlawed public meetings.
The students of the University of Dhaka, with the support of the general public, arranged massive rallies and meetings. On 21 February 1952, police opened fire on rallies. Abdus Salam, Abul Barkat, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abdul Jabbar and Shafiur Rahman died, with hundreds of others injured. This was a rare incident in history, where people sacrificed their lives for their mother tongue.
