International Day of Sign Languages

• The United Nations observes September 23 as the International Day of Sign Languages in order to raise awareness of the importance of sign language in the full realisation of the human rights of people who are deaf.

• This year’s theme — “No Human Rights Without Sign Language Rights” — emphasizes the crucial role of sign language in ensuring equality, inclusion, and dignity for persons who are deaf.

• The day acknowledges that early access to sign language and services in sign language, including quality education available in sign language, is vital to the growth and development of the deaf individual and critical to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals. 

• It recognises the importance of preserving sign languages as part of linguistic and cultural diversity. 

• For deaf people, sign language rights are fundamental for the full enjoyment of their human rights as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

• According to the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), there are more than 70 million deaf people worldwide. More than 80 per cent of them live in developing countries. Collectively, they use more than 300 different sign languages.

• Sign languages are fully fledged natural languages, structurally distinct from the spoken languages. 

• There is also an international sign language, which is used by deaf people in international meetings and informally when travelling and socialising. 

• It is considered a pidgin form of sign language that is not as complex as natural sign languages and has a limited lexicon.

• The choice of September 23 commemorates the date that the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) was established in 1951. 

• The WFD is a federation of 135 national associations of deaf people, representing approximately 70 million deaf people’s human rights worldwide. 

• This day marks the birth of the advocacy organisation, which has as one of its main goals, the preservation of sign languages and deaf culture as pre-requisites to the realisation of the human rights of deaf people.

Indian Sign Language

• As per the 2011 Census, there are 50.71 lakh persons with hearing disability and 19.98 lakh persons with speech disability in India out of total 2.68 crore persons with disability.

• Sign languages are visual-gestural manual languages that use movements of the hands, facial expressions, and head/body positions to convey linguistic messages. 

• Sign languages are the main form of communication for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, but they also have a lot to offer for everyone.

• Indian Sign Language (ISL) is not at all similar to Hindi, to English, or to any other spoken language in India. It has its own structure and is not a hand representation of any spoken language.

• The government has set up Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC), New Delhi with the objective of developing manpower for using, teaching and conducting research in Indian Sign Language.

• ISLRTC is an autonomous organisation established under Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860, established on September 28, 2015.

• It is under the aegis of Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.