The KRUX-speaking community in Bangladesh and their identity

Abstract

Kurux is one of the many indigenous languages that can be found in Bangladesh. It is a language of the Dravidian language family, spoken by a small indigenous community, known as the Uraons who live in the Northern region of Bangladesh. The overall condition of the indigenous languages in Bangladesh is quite vulnerable because of the wide-spread use of Bangla as the official language. The National Language Policy is hegemonic that has reified the status of languages other than Bangla or English to a lower realm. As a result, the indigenous communities are now inclining more towards becoming competent in Bangla by almost forgetting their own language. By forgetting their own language they are putting their identity at risk as language, culture and identity are intertwined with each other. The deterioration of one aspect will ultimately result in the deterioration of the others. The Kurux language is also on the verge of becoming extinct as the new generation was found to be more interested in learning Bangla or English for attaining better jobs or assimilate with the Bengali population than holding on to their identity as an indigenous group. This is an important issue to be addressed because if the identity of a whole community is threatened, that community is often left in a state of confusion as they cannot assimilate completely and their rights are denied as these people get labelled as the minority of a state. This paper, therefore, explores how the different generations perceive their identity and how this perception is linked with their language being endangered. The data for this paper was collected from members of different ages from the community. Analysing the data, it was found out that the older generation is aware of the declining condition of their language and how their identity is threatened alongside. They strongly feel that the upcoming generation should learn both the languages simultaneously instead of completely forgetting their own language. However, the younger generation seems to not know Kurux at all and they are more concerned about attaining a good position in society than just being bothered about their 6 identity. This is the sad reality of the community currently. If this pattern continues, it is plausible that the Kurux language will be lost in the near future.