Lost in 7.1 Million Voices

The Kashmiri language is fading from daily life as young people turn to English, Urdu, and Hindi. Can a mother tongue survive if its children stop speaking it?

- Nawaz Manzoor

I grew up hearing Kashmiri at home. My grandparents spoke it with ease, their conversations laced with humour, old proverbs, and the kind of warmth that only a mother tongue can carry. But outside those walls, something was shifting.

At school, we were encouraged to speak English. On TV, Urdu dominated the screen. Slowly, I noticed how Kashmiri, once our everyday language, was retreating into corners of memory.

Today, fewer young people speak fluent Kashmiri. Many don’t speak it at all.

According to the 2011 Census, over 7.1 million people speak Kashmiri, mostly in the Valley. That might sound like a lot. But numbers don’t tell the full story.

Among younger generations, especially in cities, the language is slipping away. Children now greet each other with “Hi” instead of “Salaam,” talk about their “school projects” rather than their “taalim,” and often feel more at home in English or Urdu.

In everyday life, Kashmiri is being replaced.

There are many reasons for this. English is the language of opportunity. It’s the medium of instruction in most schools, the ticket to good jobs, and the passport to global conversations.