Parliament passes Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020

A Bill for the inclusion of Kashmiri, Dogri and Hindi in the list of official languages in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in addition to the existing Urdu and English got the nod of Parliament with the Rajya Sabha passing it on Wednesday.

The Lok Sabha had cleared the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020 on Tuesday.

Replying to the debate in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said the government was honouring a long-standing demand of the people of Jammu and Kashmir of wanting the language they speak to be included in the list of official languages.

Reddy said 74% of the people in the state spoke Kashmiri and Dogri while the 2011 Census showed that only 0.16% spoke Urdu and 2.3% spoke Hindi.

Referring to Akali Dal MP Naresh Gujral and PDP’s Mir Mohammed Fayaz, the minister also said the government would take steps to promote other languages like Punjabi, Gurjari and Pahari in the region.

Gujral said it was "unfortunate" that Punjabi was not included in the Bill and urged the government to reconsider it.

"It hurts the feeling of those who are settled there. I would urge the government to reconsider because language is the basis of the cultural heritage of the community," he said adding the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution had included Punjabi and the first Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir was a Punjabi.

Alleging that the government's motto of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” was lacking in the state, Fayaz demanded the inclusion of Gurjari, Punjabi and Pahari in the Bill.

Shamsher Singh Manhas of the BJP spoke in Dogri during the debate.