The Kashmiri language also called “Kosher” is a language spoken by more than 7 million people in the Kashmir region, especially in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It Is also spoken in Pakistan administered Kashmir. It's main two dialects are Kishtawari and Poguli. In ancient times it was written in Sharda script but the script is not being used for a long time now. Perso-Arabic script is currently the main script used for Kashmiri. Roman script is also used to write Kashmiri online. In 2020 Kashmiri became the state’s official language along with other regional languages. It is also scheduled in the Indian constitution along with other 22 languages.

In November 2008 the Kashmiri language was made compulsory up until secondary level.
It is mostly spoken in Kashmir valley and Chenab valley of Jammu region. Most Kashmiri-speaking people use Urdu or English as their second language.
However, this beautiful and unique language is taking a back seat in today's Kashmir.
In the 21st century when the schooling system reformed the schools that were English medium got popular. Urdu being the state’ became a thing of class to be known to be having an education. Gradually parents preferred teaching their children Urdu as their first language. Although attempts are being made to revive this language major aptitude is not seen in students choosing to pursue the Kashmiri language in higher classes.
As John Ciardi said,“Tell me how much a nation knows about its language, and I will tell you how much that nation knows about its own identity”.
To prevent this unique language from going extinct thereby preserving our identity this language needs to be revived. This can be done by normalizing speaking Kashmiri at public places like schools, universities, and offices. Parents should prefer speaking in Kashmiri with their children at home. We can also contribute to its revival by making the content available in the Kashmiri language on the internet
In Today's era although the Kashmiri language is given importance in schools .it has lately been introduced as an official language of the state. However, in this digital era, the content available in and about the Kashmiri language and its literature is abysmal. Only a handful of native speakers are making efforts to keep this heritage alive by launching a full-fledged project on Wikipedia called 'Kashmiri Wikipedia' dedicated to the Kashmiri language.
\Kashmiri Wikipedia is the Kashmiri language version of Wikipedia which is a non-profit project hosted by Wikimedia foundation the same organization which hosts English Wikipedia also. Kashmiri Wikipedia is run by volunteers who create pages in the Kashmiri language to provide free information to all. Kashmiri Wikipedia was started in 2004 by some volunteers. It has been in an underdeveloped stage since then but the activities regained momentum during mid-2020. As of Mach 2022 there are more than 1000 articles on Kashmiri Wikipedia
“Our main aim is to keep Kashmiri language alive in digital world.” says user 511KeV, who has been working for Kashmiri language for more than 1 year now.

Url

Kashmiri Wikipedia can be accessed at https://ks.wikipedia.org

Who can Edit Wikipedia?

Everyone with a basic knowledge of Kashmiri and an accessible internet connection can edit Wikipedia. Even the registration on Kashmiri Wikipedia is optional.

Contributors

There are currently 8900 registered users, out of which with 30 users are active. All the users who contribute to Wikipedia do it on a volunteer basis.

Why Wikipedia ?

“The volunteers have preferred Wikipedia for the development of the Kashmiri language because it is accessible to all and it is a non-profit projects” says 511KeV.

Other languages

Currently, Wikipedia is active in 213 languages all around the world.
Indian Wikipedia’s include Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Manipuri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Newari, Odia, Pali, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu, Tulu.

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