Tulu: Demand For Official Language Status

In News 

Recently, Various organisations initiated a Twitter campaign demanding official language status to Tulu in Karnataka and Kerala and received an overwhelming response. 

About Tulu 

• Tulu is a Dravidian language spoken mainly in two coastal districts Dakshina Kannada and Udupi of Karnataka and Kasaragod district of Kerala. 
• As per the 2011 Census report, there are 18,46,427 Tulu-speaking people in India.
• Some scholars suggest Tulu is among the earliest Dravidian languages with a history of 2000 years. 
• Robert Caldwell (1814-1891), in his book, A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, called Tulu “one of the most highly developed languages of the Dravidian family”.

Present Status of Tulu

• According to Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy president, people who speak Tulu are confined to the above-mentioned regions of Karnataka and Kerala, informally known as Tulu Nadu. 
• At present, Tulu is not an official language in the country. 
  • Efforts are being made to include Tulu in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. If included in the eighth schedule, 
    • Tulu would get recognition from the Sahitya Akademi.
    • Tulu books would be translated into other recognised Indian languages.
    • Members of Parliament and MLAs could speak in Tulu in Parliament and State Assemblies, respectively.
    • Candidates could write all-India competitive examinations like the Civil Services exam in Tulu.

• Tulu in Education
  • The Karnataka government introduced Tulu as a language in schools a few years ago.
  •  In 2014-15, 18 students chose the language as the third optional when it was introduced. 
  • Last year, ‘Jai Tulunad’ conducted an online campaign demanding to include Tulu in the new National Education Policy (NEP). 

• Tulu Art, Culture and Cinema
  • Tulu has a rich oral literature tradition with folk-song forms like paddana, and traditional folk theatre yakshagana. 
  • Tulu also has an active tradition of cinema with around 5 to 7 Tulu language movies produced a year. Tulu films are being screened every day in Mangalore and Udupi in at least one theatre.

Demand of Tulu Speakers

• The Tulu speakers, mainly in Karnataka and Kerala, have been requesting the governments to give it official language status and include it in the eighth schedule to the Constitution. 

• The political party ‘Tuluvere Paksha’, which got recognition from the Election Commission of India in February 2021 under section 29A of Representation of the People Act 1951, has given wings to the political aspirations of the Tulu-speaking people. 
• When the country was reorganised based on languages, Tulu Nadu was partly shared among Kerala and Karnataka. When there was a separate state for Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada-speaking people, then there should be  a separate state for Tulu Nadu
  • Article 29 of the Constitution provides that a section of citizens having a distinct language, script or culture have the right to conserve the same.

Source :IE