Chief Minister Conrad Sangma today apprised President Ram Nath Kovind on the inclusion of Khasi and Garo language in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution.
The president was in Tamulpur district of Assam to address the 61st Annual Conference of the Bodo Sahitya Sabha. Sangma took the opportunity during his speech to touch on the long pending demand of the people.
“I strongly feel that inclusion of languages of different tribes and different communities will only leave to a stronger integration of this very diverse but great nation of us”, he said.
Sangma also spoke on the similarities between Garo and Bodo language, while advocating strongly for inclusion of Garo and Khasi language in the Eight Schedule.
He further urged the president to support the people’s aspiration of the Northeast and to ensure that languages from the region are included in Eight Schedule to protect and promote the language and identity of the people.
“We urge you to ensure that not just Garo and Khasi but all the different communities and tribes and languages that are there in the northeast different tribes, they may be small but their identity comes from the language and the culture that they have,” he added.
According to Sangma, language defines the identity of a tribe. “It is our identity as a tribe as a community and therefore, the importance of language cannot be measured,” he said.
Lauding the Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS), he said, “We all are inspired to see how Bodos have ensured that their language moves ahead, it is nurtured, and documented”.
Assam Governor Prof. Jagdish Mukhi, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Sikkim Prem Singh Tamang, Assam Legislative assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimari, MPs and MLAs and Bodo Territorial Region Chief Executive Member, Promod Boro, and parliamentarians from Bangladesh and Nepal were also present during the occasion.
