Nearly 60 writers, poets and scholars from eight south Asian countries will debate and discuss terrorism, ethnic angst and popular culture at the SAARC Festival of Literature in Agra March 12-16.

Thirteen writers from Pakistan and eight from Afghanistan will attend the festival, organised by Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL).

“The focus this year is on terrorism. The foundation is organising the festival at a time when expectations from the creative fraternity and peace activists have soared in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and sensitivities of the creative fraternity across the SAARC region, particularly in Pakistan and India, are shaken and bruised,” Ajeet Caur, eminent short story writer and the mother of artist Arpana Caur, told IANS.

“Only debate and divergence of views can enrich our history and culture,” she said.

The eight South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries to be represented at the festival are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, the Maldives and Afghanistan.

The writers and poets will read out their works, address seminars on contemporary socio-political issues and common literary trends that bind the SAARC nations.

“SAARC as a political entity was formed in 1985 to address concerns in the region. But I realised that countries were talking about everything, barring culture. I wondered how the nations could be a part of a common regional and political block if they were not connecting culturally,” Caur said.

“We are part of a great civilisation that dates back to the Indus Valley. There had to be people-to-people contact. I fought for a year and managed to get 10 visas for Pakistani writers in 1987 – because I felt it was the most troubled zone. Seven of the 10 writers came to India.”

Caur set up the foundation in 1997, which received the government seal in 1999.

“In April 2000, the first joint SAARC writers’ conference was held with 100 writers from all the SAARC countries. For the first time, I managed to bring Myanmar and Afghanistan on board,” Caur recalled.

FOSWAL facilitates cultural exchange under four heads – music, religion, folklore and literature.

It recently hosted a SAARC conference on Buddhism at the India International Centre.

“This year Pakistan will be represented by 13 litterateurs followed by eight from Afghanistan, seven from Myanmar, four from Sri Lanka, two from the Maldives and 10 from Nepal. The festival will be inaugurated by poet Jayant Mahapatra,” Caur said.

India has earned the dubious distinction of having the largest number of languages in danger of extinction. For instance, only 31 people in south Andaman Island speak Jarawa, while just 138 people in Himachal speak Handuri.

According to the UNESCO Atlas of World’s Languages in Danger, released in February, more than 2.5 crore Indians stand to lose their linguistic heritage unless immediate measures are undertaken at a social and policy level.

The 196 Indian languages that face extinction include Dakpa from Arunachal Pradesh (with 1,000 speakers) and Byangsi (with 1,734 speakers), along the India-Nepal border.

Dr Udaya Narayan Singh, director of Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, said there are several reasons why languages become extinct. “The greatest threat most minor languages and dialects face is negative evaluation. People are shifting to languages of opportunity. Also, as certain populations — like tribes — decrease, their languages die out.”

In Maharashtra, Naiki — spoken in Chandrapur and Nanded — has been declared critically endangered, while Kolami — spoken in Yavatmal, Wardha and Nanded — is definitely endangered.

The Atlas lists levels of endangerment on the basis of who is capable of speaking the language in a family. A language is ‘critically endangered’ if the youngest speakers are grandparents, while it is ‘definitely endangered’ if children are no longer taught the language at home.

Worldwide, there are more than 2,000 languages that are facing different degrees of endangerment.

Singh, one of the contributers to the UNESCO Atlas, reccomends creating functions for indigenous dialects, to ensure they do not become extinct. “When they are used in the market place or are taught in schools, languages remain alive,” he said.

Amit Khare, a Ministry of Human Resource and Development official, said the government does not recognise “endangered” as a category of languages. A scheme — the Bharat Bhasha Vikas Yojna — to develop and promote minor languages, formulated in 2007, is yet to be implemented.

The 2001 census recognised 122 Indian languages, including 22 major ones (scheduled in the Constitution of India) and 100 – spoken by 10,000 people or more – as minor languages.