5 literary bodies bat for Manipuri language in Assam

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Aug 3: Five literary bodies based in Manipur namely; Manipuri Sahitya Parishad, Writers’ Forum, Naharol Sahitya Premee Samiti, Manipuri Literary Society and ASEILUP Manipur have urged both the Government of Assam and the Government of Manipur to ensure that Manipuri people settled in Assam are allowed to appear recruitment examinations conducted by any selection committee or the Assam Public Service Commission in Manipuri language.
In separate memoranda addressed to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Chief Minister N Biren, the five literary bodies pointed out that Manipuri students in Barak Valley started studying in Manipuri medium since 1956 in LP Schools, since 1963 in ME Schools and since 1976 in High Schools and started appearing HSLC examination in Manipuri medium from 1979 onwards.
They opted Manipuri as MIL in the higher secondary and college levels and many of them did BA Honours in Manipuri.
Moreover, Manipuri in MA and PhD courses are offered at Assam University, Silchar.
Manipuri has been recognised by the Sahitya Akademi in 1972 and included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution of India in 1992. Besides that, it has a rich cultural heritage of over 2000 years. This itself stands out as a distinct and honoured language of India, said the memoranda.
Until recently, everything was fine. But after the enactment of a language policy by the Government of Assam in 2019/20, Manipuri students and educated youth of Barak Valley  in particular and Assam in general have been facing a great difficulty and they are going to be pushed off of all recruitment processes, said the five literary bodies.
As per the new language policy, candidates from Brahmaputra Valley can appear in Assamese, candidates from Bodoland Territorial Council can appear in Bodo language and candidates from Barak valley can appear in Bengali.
Noting that this is a great injustice to the Manipuri candidates who studied in Manipuri medium only, the five literary bodies strongly condemned the discriminatory language policy and demanded inclusion of Manipuri language as one of the languages of examination for recruitment to different Government services.
One of their memoranda urged Chief Minister N Biren to communicate with  his Assam counterpart and ensure that Manipuri is included as a language of examination for recruitment to different posts under the Government of Assam.
The other two memoranda appealed to the Assam Chief Minister and the Education Minister to enlist Manipuri as a language of examination for recruitment to different posts under the Government of Assam.