The weaponisation of language
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Mohabir in his writing discusses thoroughly the concept of language and its relationship to him and those around him. One quote that really stood out to me was "I wanted to plant our language back in my mouth - the language that had been stripped from us through indenture." It emphasised how language became a tool of repression and was weaponized against people to oppress one's culture and heritage. Exploring this theme further, I wondered how my mother tongue Afrikaans too became a language of tyranny, violence and colonialism. Afrikaans were enforced upon South Africa's Black population by the minority white government and became part of the system that upheld the Apartheid regime. For example, the education system used Afrikaans as the language of instruction even though Afrikaans was not the first language of most students, limiting their educational opportunities as they struggled in school and reinforced socio-economic differences. The settler government also used Afrikaans in legislation and law and for all official communication. This institutionalised the language, became the pinnacle of the violent racist regime and allowed for further discrimination between Afrikaans speakers and non-Afrikaans speakers who were then excluded from all political and judicial processes. This action helped to legitimise the settler colonial government's authority. Ultimately, Mohabir's writing expresses how hard it is to reclaim and reconnect with language when one has been denied that for so long, and that reminded me of the history of many Black South Africans who were forced to learn Afrikaans at the expense of their own language and how it can be weaponized so easily.