Former Asom Sahitya Sabha president urges Assam CM to promote Assamese language
Kulen Saikia urged steps like independent Unicode slot, literature translation and implementation of State Languages Act
Guwahati, Dec 29: Mere granting of the classical language status will not help Assamese to flourish and lots of steps will have to be taken to promote the language. That is why, former Asom Sahitya Sabha president Kula Saikia, during whose tenure the literary body had sent the formal proposal to the Central government for granting of the classical language status to Assamese, has written a letter to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma requesting him to take a series of steps for protection and promotion of the language.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, Saikia said that the Chief Minister had written a letter to the Union Home Minister on September 1, 2022 to consider the Sahitya Sabha's proposal for granting the status of classical language to Assamese. "That is why, I wrote a letter to the Chief Minister with suggestions for promoting the language," he added.
In his letter to the Chief Minister, Saikia said the first step would be to get an independent slot in the Unicode for the Assamese language. Now Assamese is clubbed with Bengali in the Unicode and the Chief Minister can play a major role in getting a separate slot for Assamese in the Unicode.
The former Sabha president also suggested that the government should make efforts to translate all the epic Assamese literature to English and other languages of India so that the people outside know about the rich literature of Assamese.
Saikia also suggested that language and economy should be interconnected and that would encourage many students to learn Assamese. He also said that the State Languages Act should be fully implemented.
Saikia is of the view that people should have pride on their own language and then only a language can prosper. The UNICEF has also noted that the children who learn the mother tongue are in a better position to learn alien languages better.
"The parents should realize the fact and teach the mother tongue to children," he said. He also expressed the view that the society should play the key role in protecting a language.
By R Dutta Choudhury
