Paper short abstract:

As speakers of Nepalbhasa – the language of the Newars, dwindled through discriminatory state policies pushing it into the endangered languages list, the new affordances provided by the ICT has seemingly provided it with a lifeline as digital permanence is sought as a remedy.

Paper long abstract:

“If the language survives, so will the community” – was a defining slogan of the Bhasa Andolan (language revolution), the struggle of the Newars of Kathmandu valley to save their language and heritage. Largely discriminated, Newars, the dwellers of the historical cities and towns of Kathmandu valley and surrounding areas with a distinct cultural identity, believed that saving of their cultural identity from absolute erasure depended on the survival of their language – Nepalbhasa. While speakers of the language dwindled as the result of discriminatory state policies pushing the language into the endangered languages list, the new affordances provided by the advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), has given, what is seeming, a lifeline. Through community activists and tech-savvy youth, a revival of the language appears to be aimed through heightened grassroots activities leveraging the internet and social media to promote and preserve the language while using the World Wide Web as a repository of resources. But if at all so, how big a part can the digital permanence that has been sought be for a solution to the complex issue of identity and heritage preservation? We reflect on the emerging digitally leveraged grassroots activities of the Newars of Kathmandu Valley in a struggle to save their language and identity.