Roma cannot even buy books in their mother tongue

Although it is in danger of disappearing, Roma in Montenegro not only do not have the opportunity to be educated in Romani, but they also do not have the opportunity to find books in their native language in most libraries and bookstores.

Journalists from "Vijesti" had the opportunity to see for themselves, who visited several large bookstores and received information that there were no books in the Romani language on offer.

"There are no books in Romani in the school libraries, except for the book 'Eremit', in the city libraries, we doubt that there are any. I believe that nowadays it is a big challenge to educate Roma men and women who will deal with literature either as writers or as readers", said Samir Jaha, executive director of the non-governmental organization "Mladi Romi" for "Vijesti".

"Eremit" is the first book in the Romani language in Montenegro.

It is a collection of short stories by a Roma writer from Podgorica Ruždija Rus Sejdović.

This book was published exactly ten years ago by the Center for the Preservation and Development of Minority Culture (CEKUM), and two more by the same author were published in 2012, "Light at Midnight" and in 2015, "Kosovo Karusel".

According to data from the last population census in 2011, more than 5.100 people in Montenegro spoke Romani as their mother tongue ten years ago.

There is a much larger number of those who declared themselves as members of the Roma or Egyptian nationality in the census.

A population census should be held in Montenegro in the second half of the year.

The material that does exist is mostly limited to publications about the Roma, but for the most part it is not written in the Roma language.

Most of those publications, Jaha points out, are from the period of the great Yugoslavia.

"If we consult COBISS (Cooperative Online Bibliographic System and Services) of Montenegro and enter the terms Roma, Roma, Roma, Roma, we will get a total of 293 results. This means that in the holdings of all Montenegrin libraries included in this system there are 293 publications related to Roma. Of that number, the most are poetry (38), followed by anthologies (15), picture books (13), review monographs (7)... When it comes to the language of these publications, only 144 out of 293 are entirely or partially in the Romani language. ", warns the interlocutor of "Vijesti".

The organizer of the program at the Center for the Preservation and Development of Minority Culture (CEKUM), Izedina Adžović Škrijelj, said that Roma is largely neglected in Montenegro, that children are not provided with education in this language, and that there is no adequate teaching staff.

"The biggest problem is reflected in the fact that in the system of higher education in Montenegro there is no chair for the Romani language. Certainly, the lack of well-designed activities of Roma organizations is noticeable, and there is also a lack of appropriate initiative by authorities to motivate members of the Roma community for schooling and thus 'recruit' staff for Roma studies and the education of Roma children and youth. In any case, it is a complex issue that requires the involvement of many actors", she told "Vijesti".

When it comes to presenting Roma culture, she said that there are many difficulties in that segment, because Roma, for example, do not have their own linguists and translators in Montenegro.

"Every text we translate, we have to hire translators from outside Montenegro. According to our knowledge, Montenegrin linguists, translators, and scientists do not deal with the Romani language. We have positive examples from the environment, with our neighbors who have excellent experts and chairs for the Romani language (Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia)", said the representative of CEKUM, referring to the magazine "Kod", which is published twice a year.

An as yet unused method - education in the mother tongue

In 2015, the Institute for Textbooks and Continuation of Funds (ZUNS) had to hire experts from the region, led by Ljatif Demir, professor of the Romani language, culture and literature at the universities in Skopje and Zagreb, to work on the Montenegrin-Roma dictionary.

Despite the fact that they have been on the soil of Europe for more than 700 years, especially in the Balkans, according to him, the Romani language is in the process of building language institutions that can improve its use and role in the family, but also in the whole society.

"The Romani language is the main link for all Roma in the world. Roma who know the Roma language can communicate with Roma all over the world. Those who live in Perth (in Australia) can easily get along with Roma in Podgorica, Skopje, Sofia, Dusseldorf, Brussels or with Roma who live in New Jersey. Preservation of the Romani language is the greatest treasure left to them by their forefathers. For the Roma, the Romani language means preservation from assimilation," Professor Demir told "Vijesti".

Roma from the Indian subcontinent started coming to Europe in the 11th century, and they have been present on the entire continent since the 15th century.

Until the 18th century, the origin of the Roma was unknown, so it was long believed that they came from Egypt. The study of the Romani language began in 1782, when the German Johann Christian Christoph Ridiger published an article entitled "On the Indian language and the origin of the Romani".

World Roma Language Day is celebrated on November 15, and the professor points out that today nearly nine out of XNUMX million Roma in Europe speak the Roma language.

"It is of great importance that Roma children learn their native Roma language well, because it is the language in which the child thinks and feels. The mother tongue is important, both for learning other languages ​​and for learning and acquiring all other knowledge. All educational systems in the world are based primarily on teaching the mother tongue", said our interlocutor.

He said that the Croatian government is continuously working to improve the position of members of the Roma minority, that a lot has been done, especially when it comes to educational issues.

As one of the last examples, he pointed out that 15 cartoons for children have been dubbed, which should soon start showing on television.

The solution to the problem of Roma education can be, he points out, education in their mother tongue.

"For the Roma, the only method that has not been used so far in their 'solving the problem with education', and which might lead to a better education of the Roma, is teaching in their mother tongue, in the initial grades (I-III or IV) and with comparative language learning with which would further extend the education. This would make it easier to integrate and include Roma children in the educational process," says Professor Demir.

Publishing houses not interested in the Romani language

From the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Strategy for the Social Inclusion of Roma and Egyptians in Montenegro, it can be seen that several projects aimed at preserving or promoting that language have been implemented or are being implemented from the Fund for the Protection and Exercise of Minority Rights in recent years, including workshops Romani language for school and preschool age, seminars about it.

In the part of fulfilling the obligations from the Action Plan concerning the publication/translation of literature in the Romani language, it is stated that the book by a Romani author in the Romani language was not published "for the reason that CEKUM, despite all efforts and cooperation with the Roma Council and NGOs, was unable to find a member of the Roma minority national community who writes in the Roma language or in Montenegrin with the intention of having it translated".

"Through government departments, in public tenders, funds are determined for the printing of books, magazines in the Romani language, etc. However, that space is often limited by competition rules, so many individuals do not apply", said the director of the NGO "Mladi Romi", suggesting that work must be done on this.

Among the recommendations of the then Ministry for Human and Minority Rights was to continue publishing and translating literature into the Romani language.

Jaha states that he is not aware of cases where publishing houses (private entities) have shown interest in publishing publications in the Romani language.

He believes that it is not a question of prejudice, but simply that they do not see the commercial purpose of such ventures.

He believes that the first step should be made by the state structures through the formation of a special body or branch that would deal with the publishing of literature in the Romani language, which would empower "individuals to deal with literature, nurture and protect the Romani language from oblivion".

"It is also necessary to initiate cooperation with regional linguists, translators, and publishers in order to bring Montenegrin, regional, and world literature closer to members of the RE community. In this way, with the wide distribution of literature in Romani as well as Romani fiction, we can finally start the process of standardization or codification. Roma-Egyptian children have the right to literature in their own language, but children from the majority population also have the right to learn the Roma language and thus get to know their peers better. That way we learn about each other and from each other", he said.

Jaha, however, claims that there are interested parties.

"Roma literary creativity is not particularly developed in Montenegro, but there are poets and writers who actively write and create, such as Ruždija Ruso Sejdović. All this treasury of literary treasures is important to study and should be available to young people through educational programs. The inclusion of topics related to the creativity and achievements of Roma is highly motivating for the inclusion of Roma children in education and educational achievements, as evidenced by the examples of some European Union countries, such as Spain, which is implementing significant reforms in the inclusion of Roma content and creativity in its formal curricula at at all educational levels", said Jaha.

The Law on Basic Education foresees that in schools with a significant percentage of minority students, an adequate teaching program is applied, which includes learning the mother tongue in the lower grades of primary school and the inclusion of thematic units in the teaching programs related to the history and culture of this minority community. According to Jaha, the report on the implementation of the Strategy for the Social Inclusion of Roma and Egyptians 2016-2020 does not state that activities of this type are implemented.

"According to the information that we have in primary schools, there are several works from Romani literature, but they are dealt with fairly uniformly, and it all depends on the opinion of the subject teacher himself whether he will deal with that subject", he said.

Romani studies are the first step

Despite many international documents and conventions that stipulate the equal right of everyone to use their mother tongue and enjoy linguistic and cultural rights, the Roma are neglected in this context in Montenegro.

This was confirmed by Professor Ljatif Demir, who points out that there is still little talk about the educational use of the Romani language and the application of that human right.

"If one accepts the thesis that the identity of an individual is related to the language that that individual speaks (mother tongue), i.e. that only in that language the complete freedom and creativity of the individual can be expressed, then any limitation of the use of the Romani language and putting it in a worse position compared to the speakers other languages ​​becomes discrimination. At the same time, speakers of the Romani language necessarily become discriminated against because the use of their mother tongue is limited in certain contexts, that is, they are forced to use the language of the majority (Montenegrin, Serbian, Albanian)", he explained.

The question, which is unavoidable in the entire Montenegrin system, was asked by Demir earlier during his visit to Montenegro and participation in a scientific meeting organized by the then Ministry of Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities.

"If there is no educational institution that will enable the completion of studies for teachers of the Romani language, then how will there be teachers in the Romani language in Montenegro?".

Demir pointed out the positive example of Croatia, which in a short period of time has done a lot in this field and opened the possibility for Roma to study their language. Thus, at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, at the Department of Indology and Far Eastern Studies, the elective courses "Introduction to the Romani language" and "Introduction to the literature and culture of the Roma" were previously introduced in the 2016/2017 school year. a graduate (master's) study program in Romani studies has been opened. Last year, the curriculum of the optional subject "Roma language and culture" was also accepted.

"Without establishing Romani studies at the faculties in Montenegro, it is not possible to make a certain progress in the study of the Romani language, culture, literature and history of the Roma", concludes Demir.

Jesus also "spoke" in Romani

One of the authors of the Montenegrin-Roma dictionary, Ljatif Demir, said that "even Jesus Christ spoke" in the Romani language.

“I dubbed 'Jesus' for New Life Film. That was really a hit, because when the Roma saw that such a film could be made in the Roma language, their reaction was that they are equal with all other nations. My translations of Federico García Lorca or Rabindranath Tagore contributed to the Roma themselves seeing that it is a rich literary language and that it corresponds equally to languages ​​that they thought were richer than their own. Only in those moments can I see that they, the poor Roma, can be rich", said Professor Demir.

In addition to Roma, according to him, non-Roma also saw in this way that the Roma language is a language in which literature or administrative documents can be created, which are translations of European conventions and laws.

Those translations, which he worked with his collaborators, speak of the great steps that can be taken when working in the Romani language.

"Now, the Romani language is no longer thought of as a language with 800-1.000 words. Now everyone says that it is a language that has dictionaries with 25.000-30.000 words. This is progress that gives self-confidence to the younger generations, and this leads us to believe that our new successors can be born who will continue the work on the Romani language and literature", he told "Vijesti".

The Montenegrin-Roma and Roma-Montenegrin dictionary worked, for example, with Roma literature professors Nevsija Durmiš and Fatima Demir.

This dictionary was published by ZUNS in 2015, and its creation and printing was financed by the then Ministry of Human and Minority Rights.

"The dictionary was published in soft and hardcover, it contains 12.000 units, which speaks of its practicality and convenience. The dictionary represents a significant shift in the preservation of the Romani language, culture and tradition. The dictionary has 160 pages", they told "Vijesti" from ZUNS.