Indian Parliament passes Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020

Indian Parliament on Wednesday passed a Bill for the inclusion of Kashmiri, Dogri, and Hindi in the list of official languages in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, in addition to the existing Urdu and English. The Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020 was passed by Rajya Sabha through voice vote. Lok Sabha had cleared the legislation on Tuesday.

Replying to a debate on the Bill, Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said it was a long-standing demand of the people of Jammu and Kashmir that the language they speak should be included in the list of official languages.

The minister pointed out that around 74 per cent people in IIOJK spoke Kashmiri and Dogri languages.

He said that according to 2011 census, only 0.16 per cent population in Jammu and Kashmir spoke Urdu, while 2.3 per cent spoke Hindi.

Reddy said the government would also take steps to encourage other local languages like Punjabi, Gurjari and Pahari in the region.