BBC Persian – February 21, 2017
UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has designated February 21 as International Mother Language Day. The aim of this designation is to promote linguistic and cultural diversity.
This year’s UNESCO slogan for the cultural programs related to the day is:
“Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education.”
Persian-speaking Twitter users have used the hashtag #زبان_مادری (#MotherLanguage) to share their thoughts and personal experiences about speaking in their native tongues. Many shared stories of discrimination, ridicule, or humiliation they faced because of speaking their mother language or speaking Persian with an accent.
Mostureh wrote:
“I’d tell him to speak Persian with me at school, but the kids would make fun of me. The only one who still speaks Gilaki, even now mostly with the grandchildren, is Mom.”
A user named Secret tweeted:
“Back in middle school, I had a classmate, and until just recently at his father’s funeral, I didn’t know he was Turkish. He had been forced to hide it because of all the mockery.”
Majid wrote:
“Don’t do any favors for non-Persian #MotherLanguage speakers. Just don’t broadcast videos humiliating kids who are forced to respond in Persian. And don’t laugh.”
The Right of Iranian Ethnic Groups to Mother Tongue Education
Users tweeting in languages like Turkish, Kurdish, Gilaki, and Arabic also joined the conversation today.
But the core of the online discussion has centered around the right to receive education in one’s mother tongue in various regions of Iran.
Mahmoud Sadeghi, a member of Iran’s parliament, referred to Article 15 of the Constitution, which states:
“The use of regional and ethnic languages in the press and mass media, as well as the teaching of their literature in schools, is permitted alongside Persian.”
Ahmad Madadi tweeted:
“It’s everyone’s right to be able to learn in the same language they hear lullabies in, fall in love with, and mourn in. Happy #MotherLanguage Day.”
However, critics of mother tongue education, often linking the issue to national identity, consider such demands by minorities a threat to the territorial integrity of the country.
A user named Arian, while emphasizing the importance of preserving mother tongues to maintain ethnic and cultural heritage, wrote:
“But education must be conducted only in the country’s official language. Otherwise, it could, in a way, undermine national unity.”
Partizan-e-Zakhmi (Wounded Partisan) also tweeted:
“Do you know a Kurd who doesn’t speak Kurdish? Or an Azeri who doesn’t know Turkish? What is #MotherLanguage anyway? Just a pretext to create division and destroy unity.”
In response to such criticisms, Hossein Norouzi wrote:
“#MotherLanguage is not a source of division in a country. In fact, the coexistence of these languages strengthens the culture of tolerance among different ethnic groups.”
A user named Keykhoun also tweeted:
“Losing your #MotherLanguage isn’t just about losing words — it’s losing all the plants, places, rivers, valleys, foods, human relationships, and verbs tied to it.”
A quote attributed to Heinrich Böll, the German writer, is also being widely shared among users:
“When you hear someone has an accent, it means they know one more language than you.”
روز #زبان_مادری: 'بچههای مدرسه مسخرهام میکردند'
https://www.bbc.com/persian/interactivity-39040776