GUWAHATI, Feb 15 - The Asam Sahitya Sabha today warned the State government that it will not accept any official communication made in languages other than Assamese with effect from February 21, 2019.
In a statement issued here today, Sabha president Dr Paramananda Rajbongshi said that if the State government fails to issue its official notifications, etc., in the State Language Assamese from February 21, the deadline the Sabha has set, the government would be held responsible for flouting the provisions of The Assam Official Language Act, 1960.
The Sabha will go to the extent of even publicly burning such notifications, which are issued in other languages, said Rajbongshi.
The Sabha has laid emphasis on making it mandatory for issuing official notifications, notes, etc., in all levels right from primary school to university, in Assamese in the Brahmaputra Valley, and in Bodo and Assamese in the Bodoland areas, in Bengali and Assamese in Barak Valley and in English and Assamese in the hill districts of the State.
Moreover, the Sabha seeks to make knowledge of vernacular languages compulsory for any government or private job in Assam. To meet the challenge thrown by English medium of learning, there should be a compulsory provision for job seekers to appear in a 50-mark test of the vernacular language and a 50-mark test of the State language.
This is the only way to make the progeny learn their mother tongues and the authorities of English-medium schools will also be compelled by this provision to appoint vernacular language teachers. This will help in reviving the government-run vernacular medium schools, said Rajbongshi.
Meanwhile, the Sabha also mourned the death of CRPF jawans in the terror attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir. Rajbongshi and Sabha general secretary Padum Rajkhowa also condemned the act of the suicide bomber as a dastardly act. They appealed to the Union government to take proper steps to save the country from external forces.
