From Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi: Former Union Minister Vincent H Pala has reiterated his demand for inclusion of Khasi language in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
In a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh here on Tuesday, Pala, who represents Shillong in Lok Sabha, traced the rich history of the Khasi language spoken by lakhs of tribal people not only in Meghalaya but also in some parts of other Northeastern states, parts of neighbouring West Bengal and even Bangladesh.
“It has been a long pending demand from Khasi-speaking people to include their language in the 8th Schedule of the constitution,” Pala said adding “this will help the people and the state to be part of national mainstream”.
The former Union Minister is planning move a Bill in the coming Budget session of Parliament to include Khasi language in the 8thschedule. He is also promoting one English-Khasi dictionary authored by father Fransis Kharwanlang. The dictionary with 13,430 words will be in Android Apple STR.
Incidentally, Khasi language is one of the 196 Indian languages that a UNESCO report said is falling silent. And one of the main reasons for such slow death of the rich language is that it is not spoken by its own people mainly the younger generation.