Feb 19, 2008

Iran: When Will Minority Languages Be Free?


Iranian schools continue to force minority students to learn Farsi despite the harmful impact it has on culture and students’ performance.

Iranian schools continue to force minority students to learn Farsi despite the harmful impact it has on culture and students’ performance.

Below is an article published by Iranian Minorities’ Human Right Organisation

In the world which respect for indigenous people and ethnic minorities daily increasing, in Iran education in mother tongue or first language is still forbidden and pressure on cultural activist are increased in recent years.

Yasser, 6 year’s old, Kurdish minority talking with IMHRO through his dad said he can not understand his teacher at all.” In home we talk Kurdish, in school we have to talk Farsi”

In Iran minorities should only thought [sic] in Farsi or Persian language. As a result many children soon leave the school and illiteracy among the minorities is very high. Various study proved that mother tongue is one of the key factors in speed of learning in children.

Mansur, 10 years old a Baluchi from Zahedan told IMHRO that he recently left the school as he did not have progress for last few years as result of not understanding the teacher’s language, which it was in Farsi. 

Effect of banning mother tongue hits whole literature and art and music of minorities in Iran. Many pieces of Arts may never be able to replace because of disconnection and lack of ability to record that particular art. 

Various human right activist and organisation related to Iranian minorities […] claim that “Indeed you do not need to kill the people to stop their culture, not allowing them to practice it much the less is same and it is very damaging”  

Yasamin 9 years old in republic of Azerbaijan, originally Turks in north west of Iran, told IMHRO that since she moved with family to republic of Azerbaijan and they study in Turkish language in their school, she feel she got more progress than when she was in Iran and had to talk and thought only in Farsi.

Folklore culture if it is not practiced may die. Definition of language is not only communication, it is also identity.

[…]

Today [21 February 2008] is world mother language and this year named by UN year of language to emphasis of importance of languages. Many cultural activists who demand a right of study in mother tongue persecuted in Iran.

We ask international community to pay attention to this huge pain of silencing of millions of people in Iran and call on Iranian government to release millions of people from monopoly of study only in Farsi or Persian language.