Shillong, Nov 15: President of the Khasi Authors Society (KAS), Dr DRL Nonglait has stressed on the critical need for the Khasi language to be used as a medium for various subjects up to the college level.
Speaking at a seminar on the Khasi language to celebrate the National Press Day here on Friday, Nonglait said youth of Meghalaya face significant challenges when competing in national examinations, such as the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination.
He said many candidates from other regions benefit from writing such exams in their native languages. Nonglait cited the example of Bodo language and said though it lacks literary richness; the opportunity for Bodo speakers to write exam papers in their native tongue provides a competitive edge.
Nonglait pointed out that minor difference in scores can drastically affect merit positions, noting that even a modest increase of ten marks could greatly influence outcomes.
“We need to uplift the Khasi language and make it a medium to study different subjects up to the college level, so that our youth can compete in various examinations at the national level,” he said.
He added that the Khasi Authors’ Society is advocating recognition of the Khasi language as an official language, so that official work of the government can be communicated in Khasi. “There is no harm in having two or three languages in the state as official languages,” Dr. Nonglait said.
Meanwhile, Nonglait also said that the KAS will continue to pursue with Delhi the demand for inclusion of the Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
The KAS president recalled the contributions of eleven Khasi newspapers that existed a century ago that were of high quality. He attributed the high standard of these print media to their contributors, who were highly intellectual persons. He said the writers of these newspapers were impeccable personalities who were deeply concerned about maintaining the standard of the Khasi language.
While requesting that the standard of journalism in the present situation be pondered, Dr. Nonglait said those old newspapers were rare treasures of the Khasi society.
He was, however, happy to see that there are still editors of Khasi print media who are making efforts to ensure that words and sentences are correctly used.
Dr. Nonglait also said that, as far as practical, Khasi words should be used in writing and there is no harm in borrowing words from other languages when they are not available. “It is a common practice to borrow words from other languages when they are not available with that particular language,” he said.
He added that he was delighted to know that Khasi folktales, stories, legends, and ethics found their places in the newspapers.
He urged the future generation to emulate the good example shown by those old writers, so as to take the Khasi language to greater heights.
Speakers at the seminar were Dr B. Khyriem, Assistant Professor in Linguistics at NEHU and Dr. Bandarilin Bairo, Assistant Professor, Department of Khasi, who spoke on use of Khasi words, spellings and pronunciations.
