Assamese absent at airport? Concerns raised over language disregard at LGBIA

Guwahati, Dec 5: The Co-ordination Committee against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Assam, has moved the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (LGBIA) authority over "non-use and disregard for the Assamese language inside the airport."

In a letter, signed by its chairman, Dr. Hiren Gohain, and chief coordinator, Deben Tamuly, the organisation said, "It is gathered from various quarters that the salesmen and stall owners of different stores inside the airport either don't know the Assamese language at all or show total disregard for the language.

This has led to heated exchanges between the customers and shop owners and salesmen many a time. We are afraid that this may lead to an unhappy or unwarranted situation sometime."

"While Hindi is a language for official communication (and not a national language as is commonly perceived), the supremacy or primacy of the regional language (in this case Assamese) can't be brushed aside.

We, therefore, request you kindly to take necessary and appropriate steps to improve upon the situation, which will go a long way in fostering amity and brotherhood between all the stakeholders. Please note that we have no issue with stall owners and sales staff speaking Hindi to speakers of that language. We only insist that they use Assamese to speak to Assamese customers," the letter added.

By-

Staff Reporter