International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research

ISSN: 2455-8834
Volume:05, Issue:10 "October 2020"

THE LANGUAGE OF DISPLACEMENT: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY

OF COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICES IN URBAN MIGRANT
COMMUNITIES

Lavanya Sinha

Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram

DOI: 10.46609/IJSSER.2020.v05i10.029 URL: https://doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2020.v05i10.029

ABSTRACT

With the increase of urban migration in India and the consequent increase in clashes between
migrants and the local population, it is crucial to examine measures to de-escalate conflict and
promote the equality and inclusion of urban migrant populations. Inclusion of such populations is
highly dependent on the preservation of their languages, communicative practices, cultures and
dialects. However, migrant languages and dialects are increasingly erased due to forced
assimilation, a lack of education, and a lack of documentation of the same. This has
consequences ranging from the social and political exclusion of migrants, as well as cultural
bereavement. This paper will examine the importance of the preservation of culture of migrants,
and the consequences of the lack of knowledge about local dialects and practices. The paper will
then propose policy measures and intervention to improve migrant literacy, and safeguard their
cultural rights without compromising on their local languages and customs.

Keywords: Language, Ethnographic, Urban, migrant ,Culture

Introduction

The urban migrant crisis caused due to the COVID-19 lockdown in India, has brought to the fore
the importance of recognizing the needs of urban migrants and a better understanding of their
communities. With the increasing number of migrants moving to cities in India due to rapid
urbanization and foreign and domestic investment, it is important to study the evolving use of
language in the narration of their cultural identity, due to the increasing number of emerging
method that migrant communities are using to convey their stories and grievances to wider
audiences. This is further important to ensure that they are incorporated within urban
communities with dignity, and that their constitutional and socio-economic rights are adequately
safeguarded and treated with equality.

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 International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research
ISSN: 2455-8834
Volume:05, Issue:10 "October 2020"

Understanding the cultural identity of urban migrants through language is important, as migrants
do not constitute a homogenous category, and migrants are differentiated according to gender,
class, ethnicity, language and religion (UNESCO, 2013). The languages and communicative
practices of migrants are further often forgotten in the debate on linguistic integration across the
country, the discourse around which is most often limited to elite urban populations, politicians,
intellectuals and academics (Narayan, 2017). However, the dialects of migrants are not taken into
account. This is a conversation that cannot be ignored, given the increase in percentages of urban
migrants as a proportion of the population. According to the census figures of 2011, Tamil
Nadu’s migrant population surged by 98% between 2001 and 2011, Kerala’s by 49%,
Karnataka’s 50% and Andhra Pradesh’s 40% (Narayan, 2017). Such a scenario will lead to an
important reckoning with respect to whether migrants would have to make an effort to learn the
languages of the states and integrate within the state’s local culture (Narayan, 2017). The fault-
lines created by the disparities and the steady erosion or ignorance of migrants’ cultural identity
caused by linguistic and cultural differences are already visible in the form of the vandalism that
has been aimed at the use of Hindi in public places in parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
(Narayan, 2017).

In addition, a lack of understanding and importance given to the languages and culture of
migrants also serves to exclude them from the processes involved in daily citizenship and
participation in the political process. Among the challenges: restricted access to basic needs such
as identity documentation, social entitlements, housing, and financial services (Abbas and
Varma, 2014). Many migrants—especially those who relocate to a place where the local
language and culture is different from that of their region of origin—also face harassment and
political exclusion (Abbas and Varma, 2014). Such an exclusion has been apparent in the
arduous struggle faced by migrants who were forced to bear excruciating conditions in travelling
to their homes post the imposition of COVID-19 lockdowns.

This paper will emphasise the need to undertake a study of the language, culture and
communicative practices for migrants, and examine the particular practices adopted my migrant
communities to preserve their cultural identities. The paper aims to shed light on the challenges
that migrants face in terms of cultural and political exclusion, and suggest policy measures and
interventions that can be adopted to support the inclusion of migrants as well as improve
opportunities for literacy and academic advancement.

Background

In urban areas of India, there is a history of identity politics leading to clashes between local
populations and migrant communities, with calls for their exclusion or forced integration. This
has served to erode the linguistic identities of these communities, and erode the use of language

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 International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research
ISSN: 2455-8834
Volume:05, Issue:10 "October 2020"

as a tool for meaning making in the urban migrant community. For example, in Mumbai, one of
Indi’s largest urban hubs of industrial activity, nativist political parties since the 1960s have
claimed that migrants threaten Marathi culture and usurp job opportunities, residential space, and
amenities that rightfully belong to the local Maharashtrian population (Abbas and Varma, 2014).
Although Mumbai is an example of an extreme case of marginalization of urban migrant
communities, such a reality is unfortunately present in all Indian states, given that the states
system, which is organized by language and cultural groups: since most Indian states are, by
design, the local homelands of India’s different ethnic and linguistic groups, migration between
states often creates competitive politics between migrants and locals (Abbas and Varma, 2014).

For Indian migrant communities, the family unit is often the foundation of language and
behavior, and consequently meaning making and narration of their cultural identities. In surveys
conducted among migrant populations, on the whole, family related migration for females has
been increasing during the last two decades (Bhagat, 2014). It would seem that male and female
migration to urban areas are related as males move for employment and for better employment
prospects whereas females follow them as a consequence of marriage or move later as soon as
the male migrants settle down (Bhagat, 2014).

Rural-urban migrants are frequently bilingual in the regional standard language as well as in their
village dialect. In Bombay, for example, many migrants speak Hindi or Marathi in addition to
their native tongue. Religious celebrations, popular festivals, and political meetings are typically
carried on in the regional language, which may be unintelligible to many attendees (U.S Library,
n.d). Therefore, communal histories of urban migrants are often encoded in their language and
particular rituals. There is also great variation in dialects and variations in speech which is
dependent on the community as well social strata. However, linguistic functional dichotomy of
English/major regional languages and major regional languages/tribal minority languages, which
cause the loss of linguistic vitality and endanger the minority languages of India (Ivanova, 2013).
In this context, the Indian educational system is based on the general assumption about the socio-
economic power of Indian languages, thus excluding most indigenous and tribal minority
languages (ITM) from the school curricula towards marginalization (Ivanova, 2013). The
invisibility of ITM leads to school failure and consequent poverty, thus causing a subtractive
effect on the minority languages and the removal of ITM children from social and linguistic
reality (Ivanova, 2013).

Discussion

The lack of documentation of India’s diverse linguistic and cultural identities leads to the
perception that urban migrants are illiterate or lack an identity that warrants inclusion, while they
may well be literate in their local languages and dialects. Such an issue is compounded and

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 International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research
ISSN: 2455-8834
Volume:05, Issue:10 "October 2020"

exacerbated by the fact that migrants have limited access to education remain unaware of their
legal rights and are unable to access an impartial forum to register their grievances. Women
migrants are even more vulnerable to exploitation, possessing negligible or often lower
educational qualifications than their male counterparts (UNESCO, 2013). As a result, they face
harassment and other aspects of labour market discrimination. Due to their mobile status,
migrants face difficulties in unionising, and remain a fragmented workforce (UNESCO, 2013).
The further fragmentation of communities means that the languages disappear owing to the lack
of cohesion and preservation of oral and written traditions, as well as a lack of opportunities for
community based rituals and engagement. It is crucial that the language barrier be adequately
addressed, to prevent further social, cultural and political marginalization. An example of an
approach to prevent the displacement and erasure of language through lack of education is the
work of Aide et Action, a civil society organization. Aide et Action has mobilised education
volunteers from the source villages of the migrant children to teach them in their mother tongue
(Aide et Action, n.d). These education volunteers are appointed on a seasonal basis and are
paid jointly by Aide et Action and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) of the destination
state (Aide et Action, n.d). Additionally, text books are provided by SSA of the state for migrant
children studying in different states (Aide et Action, n.d). After the children return to their
source villages, education volunteers receive transfer certificates for the children from the
respective SSAs at the destination (Aide et Action, n.d). Based on the number of students that
have studied in worksite schools at the destination, Aide et Action writes a letter to the state
SSA to reintegrate these children into the nearest schools to their home villages (Aide et
Action, n.d). The education volunteers assist the parents in reintegrating children into the village
school. This ensures that at an early level, the cultural expression and practices of migrant
communities are preserved, while simultaneously addressing the educational divide that is a
result of fragmentation and exclusion.

Such an approach is all the more important given that the impact of linguistic and cultural
exclusion is often most prominently and strongly felt by the children of urban migrants in India.
Seasonal migrants often take their children along when they migrate for work, which negatively
impacts upon the regular and continued schooling of children (UNESCO, 2013). There is an
overlap between the academic session in schools (June-April) and the seasonal migration
cycle (November–June), on account of which migrant children who are enrolled in
schools end up attending school only between June and November (UNESCO, 2013). This
temporary discontinuation of study frequently results in their dropping out of school altogether.
In the case that migrant children take up education at the destination, they face learning
difficulties based on differences in academic curricula and language, especially in the case
of inter-state migration (UNESCO, 2013). Such a situation is only compounded by the already
existing lack of documentation of the communicative practices, dialects and local cultures of

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 International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research
ISSN: 2455-8834
Volume:05, Issue:10 "October 2020"

migrant communities and cements the erasure of their identities in a more permanent and
everlasting manner.

Another crucial aspect to consider is the psychological effect of cultural bereavement, faced by
migrants. Migration involves the loss of the familiar, including language (especially colloquial
and dialect), attitudes, values, social structures and support networks, which leads to mental
illnesses among migrants (Bhugra and Becker, 2005). Language, both written and spoken, is a
cultural marker. Linguistic competence and economic stability are determinant factors prompting
individuals to eventually leave their non-dominant cultural group, which typically is
geographically bound, and venture into the dominant culture (Bhugra and Becker, 2005). The
acculturation process that then occurs can cause serious and lasting consequences for the psyche
of migrants, infringing on their right to live with basic dignity, physical and mental well-being.
(Bhugra and Becker, 2005).

Conclusion

Potential policy interventions must focus on supporting urban migrant populations towards
higher literacy rates and academic and literary opportunities. Moreover, such policies must
emphasise inclusion, multiculturalism and a protection of migrant communities through
frameworks of anti-discrimination. Creating employment in these languages is an important
structural measure. Planning at the Central level must move towards the incorporation a micro-
element of language for planning for different districts and cultural regions (Narayan, 2017).

Civil society participation has provided promising results. For example, the Ajeevika Bureau is
an NGO which provides services to migrants include registration and photo ID cards; skills
training and placement services for jobs at urban destinations; legal aid and literacy programs;
organization of worker collectives at destination; assistance accessing banking and social
security; and strengthening support systems for women and families affected by male migration
(Abbas and Varma, 2014; Sharma, 2017). SETU is the Centre For Social Knowledge and
Action’s intervention to provide elementary education to children in the 11-14 years age group in
seasonal hostels (UNESCO, 2013). These hostels enabled children to stay back in their villages
and continue their education uninterrupted when their parents migrated for work. These
hostels in the home villages were functional during the months the workers migrated (UNESCO,
2013). Such an approach is also encouraging as it develops skills, while allowing for the
preservation of local cultures and communicative practices, without compromising on the
language.

In conclusion, policy makers and civil society organizations must fundamentally rethink the
inclusion of migrant populations from viewpoint of inclusion rather than one of assimilation.

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 International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research
ISSN: 2455-8834
Volume:05, Issue:10 "October 2020"

Only then will true progress be made in the preservation and documentation of their cultural and
linguistic practices, preserving the plurality of democratic society. Overall, societal attitudes
must change regarding the inclusion of migrants and the government has a key role to play in
ensuring their rights to be treated equally with respect to their culture and languages are
protected.

References

Abbas, R, and Varma, D, (2014), ‘Internal Labor Migration in India Raises Integration
Challenges for Migrants’, Migration Policy Institute,
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challenges-migrants

Aide et Action, (n.d), ‘Projects’, https://aea-southasia.org/

Bhagat, R, (2014), ‘Urban Migration Trends, Challenges And Opportunities In India’,

International Organization for Migration,
https://www.iom.int/sites/default/files/our_work/ICP/MPR/WMR-2015-Background-Paper-
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Bhugra, D, and Becker, M, (2005), ‘Migration, cultural bereavement and cultural identity, World
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Ivanova, R, (2013), ‘Multilingualism and Language Diversity in Urban Areas. Acquisition,

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https://www.thehindu.com/thread/arts-culture-society/india-a-land-of-many-
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U.S Library of Congress, (n.d), ‘The Social Context of Language’,

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 International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research
ISSN: 2455-8834
Volume:05, Issue:10 "October 2020"

UNESCO, (2013), ‘Social Inclusion of Internal Migrants in IndiaInternal Migration in India

Initiative’, UNICEF, https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000223702

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