MOROCCO: The ‘Original’ Speak Out, In Their Language

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Abderrahim El Ouali

CASABLANCA, Mar 7 2006 (IPS) - When king Mohamed VI opened the international book fair in Casablanca last month, he entered the stand of the Royal Institute of the Amazighe Culture (IRCA) and took from it a book on learning Tamazight, the language of the ‘Berbers’.

“The king said he was going to teach Tamazight to the crown prince using that book,” an official source told IPS.

The king’s words have been understood by leaders of the Amazighe movement as a sign that Tamazight will be officially recognised through the next amendment of the constitution expected in 2007.

The Amazighes, commonly known as ‘Berbers’, are believed to have been around in the Maghreb region for close to 5,000 years. Morocco has been an Arabic country for more than 1335 years.

The Berbers are believed to be the first people to have lived in North Africa. They were nomads who came to this region from what are now Syria and Yemen.. “Amazighe” is thought to derive from their first recognised ancestors ‘Mazighe’, but some other studies say the word means ‘free men’ because they were nomads.

There are thought to be nearly 20 million Amazighes in nine countries: Tunisia, Morocco, Niger, Mauritania, Mali, Libya, Egypt, Algeria and the Canary Islands.

The Amazighes do not have the same language either within Morocco or in the other countries. There are many dialects all considered to be Tamazight.

The Amazighes have no constitutional position in Morocco or in any other country, but their culture is more recognised in Morocco than elsewhere. The creation of the IRCA and the king’s visit has given the Amazighes new hope.

“Officially recognising Tamazight is actually the main demand of the Amazighe movement,” Abdelaziz Bourass, member of the Amazighe association (Amrec, the Association Marocaine de la Recherche et de l’Echange Culturel) and member of the International Amazighe Congress told IPS. “Such a measure is the only way to make Tamazight active in community life.”

Amrec was founded in 1967 in Moroccan capital Rabat. Five years ago, on Oct. 17, 2001, the king gave a speech in the small Amazighe town of Ajdir in which he announced the foundation of the IRCA.

“Promoting Tamazight is a national responsibility as no national culture can renounce its historical roots,” the king said then. But since then the IRCA “has been producing means and tools to introduce Tamazight in education, media, and administration, but in vain,” said Bourass.

The government is led by an Amazighe prime minister, Driss Jettou. “But no measures can be taken by the government unless there is legislation by the parliament,” Bourass said. Constitutional recognition of Tamazight is necessary because “we should have a democratic constitution based on equality.”

Arabic media in Morocco have increased four-fold since the IRCA was founded while “Amazighe demands have been on the table for more than 40 years without being met,” Bourass said.

In 1994, state-owned television began airing a daily news bulletin in the three Amazighe dialects. That is not enough, Amazighe leaders say.

Some extremist Amazighes have demanded the expulsion of Arabic language and Islam from Morocco. The demands have led some to fear a growth of sectarianism. The Amazighe Democratic Party (PDA) has already appeared, though it is not officially recognised.

The PDA was founded in 2005 by the Amazighe lawyer Ahmed Dgharni. Dgharni had then explained the creation of the PDA as “a historical necessity.”

In an interview Jun. 10, 2005 with Moroccan weekly Al-Moustaqil (The Independent), Dgharni said the Amazighes should “carry the responsibility (of governing) instead of contenting themselves with presenting demands to others.”

All known members of the PDA are Amazighes.

Amazighe leaders are hoping that recognition of their language will do something to check any rise in sectarianism.