[lg policy] Kyrgyzstan: Bill Seeks Russian-Language Ban in Government

Thu Mar 28 19:37:55 UTC 2013

"Originally published by EurasiaNet.org"

Kyrgyzstan: Bill Seeks Russian-Language Ban in Government
March 27, 2013 - 11:14am, by Asel Kalybekova

    Language Politics

Kyrgyzstan is a few steps away from a new law requiring all government
documents to appear only in Kyrgyz.

Kyrgyzstan is slowly marching toward kicking out Russian as an
official language, with a new bill that would require all government
documents to appear only in Kyrgyz making its way through the
legislature. If passed, the law would also require all civil servants
to pass a Kyrgyz-language exam. (Photo: David Trilling)

In a small room with two desks and three chairs it is surprisingly
easy to lose Ismayil Kadyrov. But he’s there, behind a tall pile of
papers, correcting another document translated from Russian to Kyrgyz.
“At every step I come across incorrectly translated documents,” he
says. “We don’t have enough time, we work days and nights!” Pointing
at a paper covered in red ink marks, he sighs. “I’ve seen worse.”

Kadyrov’s job is to edit all the Kyrgyz-language documents arriving at
government headquarters from Kyrgyzstan’s various ministries and state
agencies. “Incompetent translations” from Russian into Kyrgyz are the
rule rather than the exception, he says.

A draft bill that would make Kadyrov’s job harder, requiring all
government documents appear only in Kyrgyz, is up for a vote on its
second reading in Kyrgyzstan’s parliament on March 28. (All
legislation must pass three readings before it heads to the president
to be signed into law. The first reading passed 84 to 12 in December.)

The bill would require all civil servants to pass a Kyrgyz-language
exam and impose fines for those who slip into Russian in official
meetings; documents will appear in Russian only under special,
yet-to-be-defined circumstances. It remains unclear how the fines –
ranging from approximately $20 to $420 – will be assessed and who will
be authorized to monitor implementation of the law.

In Kyrgyzstan, home to more than 70 ethnicities, bilingualism is a
legacy of the Soviet past. Ethnic Kyrgyz account for 72 percent of the
population, according to the 2009 nationwide census, the most recent.
But many of the country’s best educated – regardless of ethnicity –
speak Russian as their first language; some Kyrgyz do not speak Kyrgyz
at all. While Kyrgyz is the country’s “state” language, Russian, its
“official” language, serves as a de facto medium of interethnic
communication.

In recent years, lawmakers have engaged in bitter arguments about
which language to speak at parliamentary sessions. Champions of the
bill find supporters among the rural, Kyrgyz-speaking Kyrgyz who have
flooded into Bishkek as more educated people leave the impoverished
country. Arguments for speaking Kyrgyz are framed in terms of “honor”
and “dignity” and the legacy of colonialism; in this view, Russian is
the alien import of a now-distant imperial power, not a tool for
getting ahead.

President Almazbek Atambayev appears to have thrown his support behind
the bill. "Whether or not someone likes it, we should promote the
state language. One should learn the language, not seek excuses not to
learn it," 24.kg quoted him as saying on March 18, responding to
criticism about the bill. "We will not be under the chauvinists'
thumb: We should know the state language.”

Prominent rights activist Cholpon Jakupova fears the forced switch
will create a mess of ambiguous and imprecise legal documents. “If
they want to write laws in Kyrgyz, let them try. Let them write the
Criminal Code in Kyrgyz, and see if anyone will be able to understand
it. Not only are lawmakers unable to write in Kyrgyz, they are unable
even to read the laws, that’s the problem,” Jakupova, director of the
Adilet legal clinic, told Fergana News shortly after the first
reading.

While the debate rages, little is being done to facilitate a
transition, says Kadyrov, the editor. No ministry or government agency
has translated its bylaws and other essential documents entirely into
Kyrgyz, he says.

Dastan Bekeshev, a parliamentary deputy, supports the idea of
promoting the Kyrgyz language, but says he is against using force.
(Bekeshev was absent during the vote on the first reading.) A
language-proficiency test is a “way to get rid of unwanted people.
Inserting this kind of system is complicated and incorrect,” he told
EurasiaNet.org. “We can all speak Kyrgyz, but to do office work [in
Kyrgyz] is a different thing.”

Comments like Bekeshev’s draw venomous responses in some of the
nationalist-leaning Kyrgyz newspapers. Addressing parliament, an
editorial in the Alibi weekly on March 20 asked, “Who are you,
deputies or enemies that defend personal interests while trampling the
dignity of the Kyrgyz people and denigrating the Kyrgyz language?”

Still, civil society activists fear the legislation violates
minorities’ constitutional rights and point out that the education
system is hardly equipped to teach Kyrgyz properly, meaning children
in non-Kyrgyz-speaking families are at a disadvantage.

In an interview with EurasiaNet.org, Almaz Esengeldiev, an advisor at
Freedom House, a US-based watchdog, called the bill “discriminatory.”

“Unfortunately, nationalist sentiments are growing. I’d like to see
the state supporting internationalism rather than nationalism,” he
said. “This is simply going overboard.”

Esengeldiev fears such an “incautious” move may increase the exodus of
minorities and the Russian-speaking educated elite. “We need to create
conditions for learning the language instead of trying to insert it
artificially. We need to create market demand. When a person realizes
that his knowledge of the language helps improve his situation, he
will have the desire to learn it.”

"Originally published by EurasiaNet.org"

-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents.
Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal,
and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message.
 A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well.  (H. Schiffman,
Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************

_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list