The world observes February 21 as International Mother Language Day to celebrate the linguistic and cultural diversity. The world with more than 7,000 languages celebrates multilinguism through this day. As per Census 2001, India alone has 22 officially recognised languages, 1635 rationalised mother languages, 234 identifiable mother tongues.
International Mother Language Day was first observed by UNESCO in 1999 and the organisation has been celebrating it for about 20 years and aims to promote mother tongue-based multilingual education. The day is celebrated with different themes every year.
Since 2019 is the International Year of Indigenous Languages, the theme for this year will be indigenous languages as a factor in development, peace and reconciliation.
On the need to preserve mother-tongue language, UNESCO said, “Linguistic diversity is increasingly threatened as more and more languages disappear. Globally 40 per cent of the population does not have access to an education in a language they speak or understand.”
The multilingual and multicultural societies exist through their languages which transmit and preserve traditional knowledge and cultures in a sustainable way, it added.