Tulu Language: Demand for official status, Twitter campaign, History of the most developed Dravidian language

Tulu Language: Why in the news?

A Twitter campaign has surprisingly gathered millions of eyes now under the hashtag #TuluOfficialinKA_KL. The people of Karnataka are demanding the Tulu language to be included in the 8th Schedule in the Constitution of India. Various tweets in support of the language and its official status demand have been made and many politicians have also come to support this demand. Take a look at the tweets below and know about the history of this Dravidian language along with its significance. 

ಒಂಜಾತ್ ತಾಂತ್ರಿಕ ದೋಷಲೆನ್ ಸರಿ ಮಲ್ತ್ದ್ ನಮ್ಮ ಅವಧಿಡ್ ತುಲು ಬಾಸೆಗ್ ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಅಧಿಕೃತ ಬಾಸೆ ಪನ್ಪುನ ಮಾನಾದಿಗೆ ಕೊರ್ಪಾವ. (2)#TuluofficialinKA_KL #ತುಳುನಾಡು #ತುಳುಭಾಷೆ #TuluTo8thSchedule

— Nalinkumar Kateel (@nalinkateel) June 13, 2021

#TuluOfficialinKA_KL #Tulu #TuluTo8thSchedule
One of the most beautiful place on the Arabia coast with vibrant multi linguistic culture, Tulu being a common language spoken by everyone, is an ideal example of co-existence for centuries. A model region developed by self enterprise pic.twitter.com/jmdXx9sy0p

— Capt Ganesh Karnik 🇮🇳 (@GaneshKarnik) June 13, 2021

Tulu: About the Twitter Campaign

The campaign was started at 6 am on Sunday, July 13, 2021 and continued till midnight receiving 2.5 lakh tweets on the topic. People speaking Tulu in Karnataka and Kerala have long been demanding the Government to include Tulu in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution which would grant it the Official Language status. 

Backing the campaign came up many political leaders like Dakshina Kannada MP and BJP State president Nalin Kumar Kateel who tweeted, "Efforts and talks are on to include Tulu in the eighth schedule. A few technical issues need to be sorted out. All efforts will be made to announce Tulu as the official language during our tenure itself."

Vedavyas Kamath, a MLA tweeted, " Tulu language is our mother tongue. Every one of us wants Tulu to get official language status."

ಸಾರ ಸತ್ಯೋಲು ನೆಲೆ ಆಯಿನ ಪಂಚವರ್ಣದ ಪುಂಚೊದ ಮಣ್ಣ್‌ದ ಪುಗರ್ತೆದ ತುಳುಭಾಷೆ ಎನ್ನ ಅಪ್ಪೆಭಾಷೆ. ತುಲು ಬಾಸೆಗ್ ರಾಜ್ಯ ಮಾನಾದಿಗೆ ತಿಕ್ಕೊಡು ಪನ್ಪಿಂಚಿ ಆಸೆ ನಮ್ಮವು.#TuluofficialinKA_KL #tulunaad #ತುಳುವಿಗೆ_ರಾಜ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ_ಅಧಿಕೃತ_ಸ್ಥಾನಮಾನ_ಬೇಕು #ತುಳುನಾಡು #ತುಳುಭಾಷೆ #TuluTo8thSchedule

— Vedavyas Kamath (@vedavyasbjp) June 13, 2021

Dakshina Kannada district-in-charge minister, Kota Srinivas Poojary tweeted, “Tulu is not only a language but also a culture and tradition with a history of its own.” 

Tulu is the only one among the five popular Dravidian languages which hasn’t got its due. Request @CMofKarnataka to have a look in to this campaign and do the needful #TuluTo8thSchedule #TuluOfficialinKA_KL

— Rakshit Shetty (@rakshitshetty) June 13, 2021

People from all around the state have been tweeting:

The Power of Tulunad has Been Exposed today! I’m sure we will Be Stronger on this Each and Every day from Now!

Appe Baase Tulu g Manadhige Tikkuna Muta Namma Horaata Unthavuja! #TuluOfficialinKA_KL #TuluTo8thSchedule pic.twitter.com/GF94W6xPYy

— ViDish DK (@VidishDk) June 13, 2021

Tulu: Basic Information

What type of language is Tulu?

Tulu is a Dravidian language.

Where is Tulu spoken?

Tulu is mostly spoken in two coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi of Karnataka and Kasaragod district in Kerala. 

How many people officially speak Tulu?

According to the Census of 2011 there are 18,46.427 Tulu speakers in the country. 

Various scholars support the theory that Tulu is one of the oldest Dravidian languages of India. It has a history dating back to 2000 years. 

Robert Caldwell (1814-1891) called Tulu “one of the most highly developed languages of the Dravidian family”, in his book anmed A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages.

Efforts made by the Government for Tulu:

Karnataka Government has included Tulu in its school curriculum. It is the language that is being taught to the students. More than 950 students from Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts wrote Tulu as their third optional language in SSLC exams in 2020. 

In the year 2020, Jai Tulunad had conducted an online campaign demanding to include Tulu in the New Education Policy. 

Which Languages are included in the Eighth Schedule?

Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri are the 22 languages included in the eighth schedule to the Constitution.

Also read| Kannada Language: 7 amazing facts about one of India’s most unique language