RABAT (Reuters) – Morocco’s royal palace said on Wednesday the start of the Amazigh year will be an official paid holiday much to the delight of Amazigh activists who campaigned for decades for the recognition of their calendar.
Home to North Africa’s biggest Amazigh, or Berber, population, Morocco long marginalised its language and culture in favour of Arabic and French, giving rise to an Amazigh identity movement which has steadily gained influence.
Demands of the Amazigh movement featured prominently in 2011 protests which led to Morocco adopting a new constitution and the Moroccan monarch to devolve some of his power to an elected government.
The first day of the year in the Amazigh calendar, rooted in seasons and agriculture, marks the anniversary of the ascent of Libyan King Sheshonq to the throne of Egypt, according to historians. The new year which begins on Sunday is year 2973.
The day is also celebrated by Arabic-speaking Moroccans who call it the beginning of the agricultural year corresponding to Jan. 13.
Morocco was the first Amazigh nation to officially recognise its ancestral language though activists deplore a lack of proper inclusion of the language at schools and in the administration.
The government has increased the 2023 budget to support Amazigh language by 50% this year, to 300 million dirhams ($30 million) and promised to hire hundreds of official clerks for the language in public services.
(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
