Students body demands Bengali language to be used in administrative affairs in Barak Valley

Silchar, Oct 21: The All Cachar Karimganj Hailakandi Students Association (ACKHSA) has condemned the recent incident of alleged defacing of a Government hoarding of Jal Jeevan Mission in which texts in Assamese language was used.

Talking to reporters on Thursday, chief convener of the students body Rupam Nandi Purakayastha said that "the incident of defacing the hoarding which happened at the Silchar railway station is unacceptable and we condemn it."

The student association, however, has placed strong demands before the administration of all three districts of Barak Valley to see that Bengali, which is the official language of the valley as per the legislation passed in 1961 is used in all the administrative affairs. "We demand that the Bengali language, which is the official language of Barak Valley as per The Assam Official Language (Amendment) Act, 1961 should be used with more flair and fluency in all forms of administrative affairs across the three districts of Barak Valley."

He added that the people of Barak Valley love their mother tongue and have deep respect for other languages as well. However, any attempt to impose any language by anyone shall not be tolerated at all. "Bengali is our mother tongue and if need be, we shall die to safeguard our language. However, we have deep love and respect for other languages as well. The reverence of the people of Barak Valley should not be construed as our weakness. We shall not tolerate any attempt to impose any language upon us," the chief convener maintained.

Biswajit Deb, Saidur Rahman, Sukamal Das, Madhumita Dey and other members of the student association attended the media interaction.