Reasons for a New Script
Kashmir Conflict
The ethnolinguistic and religious conflict in Kashmir has also left scars on the language itself. Not only the vocabulary, but even the scripts used by Muslims and Pandits are totally different. The Pandits use a modified version of the Devanagari script. The Muslims use a modified Nastaliq Perso-Arabic script. Neither side will accept using the script of the other, which further fans the flame of the conflict.
Failure of the Scripts
Both the scripts, more or less, failed in their original forms. The modified ones may represent it accurately, but they are quite tough, contributing to Kashmiri illiteracy.
The New Script
A modified Latin script, should be adopted. The Latin script is much more neutral, and literacy in the Latin Script is especially high in the Kashmiri youth. This is the script as proposed in the book, "Let's Learn Kashmiri" by Omkar N. Wakhlu and Bharat Wakhlu:
Vowels
e̊ - As the "e" in Open
ë - Previous vowel elongated
å - As the "e" in Perturb
ä - Previous vowel elongated
a - As the "u" in up
ā - As "a" in Arm
~ - As the faint "i" in Sip
i - As "i" in Sit
ī - As "ee" in See
u - As "u" in Put
ū - As "oo" in Zoo
ê - As "e" in Ten
e - As "a" in Pay
o̊ - As "o" in "oh!"
ö - As "wo" in Swot
o - As "o" in Home
n̊ - As "n" in Sing
We see, that in the Wakhluan Latin, there are 17 "vowels'.
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