The story so far: Human society is rapidly moving towards the extinction of its linguistic heritage. In India, the threat of extinction lurks over many indigenous languages. According to one report by UNESCO, India has topped the list of countries with the maximum number of dialects on the verge of extinction. With English as the academic lingua franca, many local languages have been pushed to the margins. According to D.G Rao, former Director of the Central Institute of Languages (CIIL), India has lost over 220 languages in the last 50 years.
Is Dogri in decline?
In recent years, growing concern has emerged over the gradual decline of the Dogri language in the Jammu region. Around the world, indigenous languages are being pushed to the margins, overshadowed by dominant tongues. Globalisation, migration, and the pursuit of economic opportunity often encourage speakers to prioritise widely used languages, while regional ones fade into disuse. Political choices and a lack of active interest among native speakers further deepen this crisis. Against this backdrop, Dogri finds itself at a crossroads. Although the J&K Official Languages Bill, 2020 gave it the long-overdue recognition as one of the Union Territory’s five official languages — alongside Urdu, Kashmiri, Hindi, and English — its status on paper has not translated into meaningful presence on the ground. Unlike other regional languages that have secured space in school curricula or administrative use, Dogri remains largely absent from classrooms and formal education.
