Thomas Jones Day: Demand for inclusion of Khasi Language in 8th Schedule remains unfulfilled

SHILLONG | JUNE 22, 2020:

The demand for inclusion of Khasi and Garo language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India remains unfulfilled even after the Meghalaya Assembly had adopted a resolution, seeking inclusion of the language in November 2018.

The Khasi Author's Society (KAS) has been spearheading this movement to honor Rev Thomas Jones, the founding father of the Khasi alphabets and literature, who arrived in Sohra on June 22, 179 years ago.

Earlier in 2018, the Meghalaya Government announced that the date of Jones's arrival at Sohra would be celebrated as "Thomas Jones Day" every year in the state.

"We have been pursuing this issue for many years for the inclusion of the Khasi language, as a mark of respect to this great man. The recognition and improvement of the Khasi language and literature was a befitting tribute to the founding father of the Khasi alphabets," KAS president, Dr. D.R.L. Nonglait told TNT–The Northeast Today.

Meanwhile, he informed that the last time they had met the Union Ministers to pursue this demand was in January 2019. Dr. Nonglait said that they had met former Union Minister of State, Kiren Rijiju on January 03, 2019, and former Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh on January 05, 2019.

"The former Union Minister had assured that he will pursue our demand with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. We got a response in March 2019 that they would consider the inclusion of Khasi language as one of the 38 pending cases. From among the 38 pending cases, Garo language is not there since its demand to be included in the Eighth Schedule was only pursued recently," KAS president said.

He said that Centre had also intimated the State Government that they would include the demand for the Khasi language in one of the pending cases.

Meanwhile, Dr. Nonglait said that they had planned to pursue this demand with the new dispensation at the Centre. "However, they could not get a chance to meet the Union Ministers due to agitations against the Citizenship Amendment Act across the country," he said.

KAS President further stated that they will have to move afresh since Rajnath Singh no longer holds the Home portfolio, adding that they will need to get an appointment with the present Union Home Minister, Amit Shah.

"We were planning to resume our movement to pursue our demand. But we could not move forward due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are waiting for a convenient time to pursue our demand again," he said.

When asked about the criteria which are required to be fulfilled for the inclusion of any language in the Eighth Schedule, he said that there are no fixed criteria. According to him, the Centre had constituted three committees in the past for recommending criteria for inclusion of the languages. "None of the committees made any recommendations on the criteria for inclusion of the languages. The committee which was set up in 2003 had recommended including Bodo language in Assam, Dogri in Jammu & Kashmir, and Maithili in Bihar in the Eighth Schedule. These were the last three languages which were included in the Eighth Schedule," KAS president said.

He said that the population for any language to be included in the Eighth schedule should be at least 5 lakh. "The Khasi population in India is more than 14 lakh. We fulfill the norms of getting autonomous recognition since the Khasi language is being taught up to the Ph.D. level. The Bodo language got the recognition despite lacking criteria on many fronts. What we need is the political will," Dr. Nonglait said.

KAS president said that the Bodo language was included in the Eighth Schedule because of the sincerity and commitment of the Assam Government. "The Meghalaya Government is yet to show its sincerity of pursuing with the Centre even after the Assembly had adopted a resolution to recognize the Khasi and Garo languages," Dr. Nonglait said.

Furthermore, he said that there could be a hindrance to the inclusion since only the Khasi language is in the list of the 39 pending cases with the Ministry of Home Affairs. "The decision to also demand the inclusion of the Garo language could further delay the chances of getting the recognition for Khasi language," KAS president.

Meanwhile, Dr. Nonglait said that if the new Rajya Sabha MP from the State, Dr. Wanwei Roy Kharlukhi raises this issue in the Parliament, it could yield some positive results. "He (Dr. Kharlukhi) is the best person to raise this issue in Parliament since he is an educationist himself, " KAS president added.

Meanwhile, Meghalaya Art and Culture Minister, Alexander Laloo Hek said that the State Government shall continue to "earnestly" pursue the resolution adopted by the Assembly on the inclusion of the Khasi and Garo language with the Centre.

"We had also constituted a committee comprising officials from the Art and Culture, Education and Political department on this matter," Hek added.