Amidst Modi’s Hindi push, Girmityas stick to Bhojpuri
Promoting Hindi at the global stage is high on the Modi government’s agenda but Girmityas ( descendants of the indentured Indian labourers), who are the torchbearers of the language outside the Indian shores, also prefer to stick to their mother tongue — Bhojpuri.
The 11th World Hindi Conference was held last month in Girmitya heartland Mauritius ( Mauritius has hosted the event twice before) to expand the reach of the language but the local sentiment hinted that Hindi faces stiff challenge from its own sibling Bhojpuri.
Apart from Mauritius, Girmitiyas are dominant community in Fiji, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname. They might be attached to Hindi but their link to Bhojpuri is emotional. Several language experts stressed that Bhojpuri is more popular than Hindi in their countries.
The Indian government has taken the World Hindi Conference to other Girmitya countries like Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname in the past apart from holding the event in United Kingdom and United States but language experts from these countries want India to protect and preserve Bhojpuri.
“Music and language has been the glue that has held the Bhojpuri culture intact in the adopted land of the people. The prosperity of a nation depends on the preservation of its culture and giving due importance to its mother tongue. If people of Indian origin, living in Girmitiya countries can preserve Bhojpuri, then why not in India,” said Manoj Bhawuk, a language expert popularly known as a walking encyclopedia on Bhojpuri cinema.
“I must say that politicians use Bhojpuri as a card for garnering votes in India, the place from where it originated,” Bhawuk, who represented India at Bhojpuri Literary and cultural event organised at Birmingham in the United Kingdom on September 1, told this newspaper. “Hindi has made remarkable progress and it has become one of the prominent languages of the world but at the same time Bhojpuri is also gaining popularity,” said Bhawuk who has been promoting his mother tongue in countries like the UK and Uganda. Stressing that Bhojpuri reached first in the Girmitya countries and Hindi came later, he emphasised that Hindi will expand globally only when Bhojpuri is recognised as a national language by the government in India.
He said that even world body like UNESCO recognised Geet Gawal, a musical ensemble that encapsulates the cultural heritage of the Girmityas, as the “Intangible Cultural Hertigage of Humanity”. This happened because of the consistent effort by the Mauritius government, he said
Apart from Mauritius, Girmitiyas are dominant community in Fiji, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname. Their are attached to Hindi but their link to Bhojpuri is emotional. Language experts belive that Bhojpuri is more popular than Hindi in countries with Girmitiyas inhabitants. They are descendants of the indentured Indian labourers.