[lg policy] India: Sahitya Sabha rejects BSS policy

[Harold Schiffman]

Sahitya Sabha rejects BSS policy A STAFF REPORTER

Asam Sahitya Sabha president Dhruba Jyoti Borah in Guwahati on Wednesday.
Picture by UB Photos

*Guwahati, Jan. 27:* Asam Sahitya Sabha today rejected Bodo Sahitya Sabha's
language policy that proposed Assamese as the third language in the BTAD.

The BSS, in its recent 55th annual conference held in lower Assam's Chirang
district, announced its language policy proposing Bodo as the main language
in the BTAD, English second and Hindi and Assamese as third languages. On
January 22, the policy was endorsed by a delegate meeting of the BSS.

"We reject the language policy of the Bodo Sahitya Sabha. The policy
violates the Assam Official Language Act, 1960, which was an outcome of an
agitation where people lost their lives and many got displaced," said Sabha
president Dhruba Jyoti Borah while addressing the media here this afternoon.

"Under no circumstances can we accept Assamese as the third language in any
area of the Brahmaputra Valley where the Assamese language and culture is
deeply rooted. It would have been different had the area been Barak valley
or the hill districts," said Borah.

The Sabha, he said, respects every community taking education in the mother
tongue. "We want Bodo to be the first language in the BTAD, Assamese as
second and English the third, while students should also be taught
practical Hindi," he said.

Borah said the Sabha since its inception has been responsible towards
Assamese and other regional languages of the state. He said the Sabha has
played a crucial role in the growth and development of the regional
languages. "Everyone knows how Asam Sahitya Sabha and those associated with
it have done for development of the regional languages. We are committed to
development of all regional languages. May be because of some limitations
we are unable to do as much as it was needed," he said.

Borah said it was only the Sabha that has been saying that Bodo should be
the associate official language in Assam. "But I have observed that since
the new executive of the Sabha took its charge, the BSS has always been
uncooperative. It refuses to talk things over despite receiving letters
from us," he said.

There has been an open war between the two sabhas. In the recent session,
the BSS did not invite officials of the Sabha citing differences of
opinion. When the BSS's language policy became public, it drew criticism
from different quarters.

Borah today said the policy may create a rift among different communities
in the state.

He said the BSS's policy may also be a result of an "international
conspiracy" related to religious conversion. "Earlier Christian
missionaries used the mother tongue of a community to reach out to it. That
is why when they came to Assam they translated the Bible into Assamese. But
their policy changed afterwards. Now they do not encourage mother tongue.
They encourage English. May be the influence of this has fallen on the Bodo
community," said Borah.

He said the Assamese are liberal, so whichever community migrated to the
state has accepted Assamese as its mother tongue.

"We will not sit idle. We will send letters to the Centre and the state
government regarding the language policy of the BSS and, if required, knock
on the door of the court," said Borah

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160128/jsp/northeast/story_66162.jsp#.Vqo8JVm92-c


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