Alipur Sign Language
| Alipur Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Native to | India |
| Region | Karnataka |
|
Native speakers
|
165 (date missing) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
None (mis) |
| Glottolog | alip1234 |
Alipur Sign Language is a village sign language of India. It is spoken in the town of Alipur, Karnataka, which is a self-imposed Shia Muslim enclave with a high degree of congenital deafness. A substantial number of the hearing population of 20,000+ knows the language.
There are about 150+ Deaf people in this town of Karnataka State. Alipur has disproportionately large number of deaf people.
Last October, Mir Fazil Raza, a 49 year old former gram panchayat chief, helped set up the Alipur Unity Society, run by members of the deaf community. Raza helps translate between English and Sign Language. One of the first activities, which lasted the month of July, was conducting a fresh survey in the area to understand actual numbers of the deaf population, carried out by 15 members of the community.
The panchayat office says the 2011 census shows 17,625 people in the town, but that the actual figure is closer to 20,000. That puts the proportion of the deaf population here at about 0.75%, compared to government estimates for the national average: 0.41% (based on data from the 2011 census).
Generations of consanguineous marriages are believed to have led to this outsized population of people who cannot hear, the people believe. The tightly knit Shia community traces its forbearers to Iran, and remains particular about marrying within.
Some years ago, Raza learnt the Alipur Sign Language—the local dialect—later going on to learn the Indian Sign Language and other sign languages.
In 2009, a survey conducted by Raza, who acts as president and informal coordinator of the group, found 265 people with different “disabilities”. Of these, more than 120 people could not hear and speak. (Estimates range from 125 to 165.)
For a long time, Raza was vexed by this question: how can you prevent future generations from being born deaf? First, he got all of them blood tested, only to confirm what had been suspected: their profiles showed a high degree of marriage within the community. So, he started trying to encourage them to marry outside the village.
“But the result was the same,” he says. Then they tried screening wombs of pregnant women to understand the risks involved. “But even after that, children with disabilities continued to be born,” he says.
With no formal education and no special services, the community has suffered. They work as labourers, plumbers, electricians, or other jobs their fathers might have done. In 2014, Raza had to close the special school in the area after falling short of funds, a big setback for the community. But in October 2015, with the promise of funds, he hopefully started a school again. The earlier school was for deaf community members in particular, and had two special educators coming from Bengaluru every day.
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Wikipedia