Hunger Strike to defend the Catalan language: the reasons

Hunger Strike to defend the Catalan language

The first of March of 2012, Jaume Bonet began a hunger strike in Majorca to defend his our language; on March 18th, therefore, his fast has lasted already for eighteen days. The Spanish nationalist party PP arrived to the Balearic government with the pretext of the economic crisis but it has not carried out any measure of economic reflation for the Islands. In fact, the situation is worsening and PP takes advantage of it to rule the Islands with an renewed offensive against the language. According to Bonet, their intention would be to make Catalan disappear or, at least, make it back as much as possible. Some of the recent actions of PP in this direction are the following:

• The creation of the Spanish version of Palma’s literary price which has always been a Catalan price (there are many more literary prices for Spanish than there are for Catalan).
• Cutting out the small help of 300.000€ for the publications in the Balearic Islands' own language.
• The substitution of Catalan toponyms such as Maó or Palma for versions in Spanish using Franco’s dictatorship form.
• Starting the process for the suppression of the Health Service decree by which users have the right to be attended in the language of their election.
• Proposal of derogation of the decree of minima stating that 50% of the education has to be in Catalan too.
• The last blow, the hardest one, has been the cancellation of the requirement to know Catalan for autonomic civil servants. It is not required for State civil or military servants.

As the hunger striker says, he is not the one who is radical but rather "the attack of the government to exterminate the language is radical". In consequence, Jaume Bonet has begun a protest that requires the maximum support. Today in the Balearic Islands, the future of our language is being decided: to return to the Spanish fascist and darkest times or to survive.

Spanish have killed to impose their language. South America is a clear example.

Catalans are decided to die to defend ours

http://youtu.be/v67mu_Go4og