SHILLONG: In a historic show of unity, the Opposition and Treasury Benches in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly on Thursday came together and a passed a resolution to press for inclusion Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India .
Moving the resolution, Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma said that the whole House was united on the resolution as it was a long pending aspiration of the people of the state.
Participating in the discussion, Mawsynram MLA, H M Shangpliang said that both Opposition and ruling parties would join hands on the matter and all 60 MLAs would go to New Delhi, if needed, to voice the demand for inclusion of Khasi and Garo language in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
Another Congress MLA from Mawlai, PT Sawkmie said that pressure must be put on the Ministry of Home Affairs to fulfill the long pending demand.
“ We will try to ensure that the Khasi and Garo language is included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution within our tenure,” he said.
MLA from Mawphlang, SK Sun who also participated in the discussion urged the State Government to have detail discussion with the Khasi Authors’ Society on the subject before taking it up with the Union Government.
Later, Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma said that there were a lot of people in the state who are emotional on the matter even as he recalled that his late father, PA Sangma had raised the matter in the Parliement
Admitting that there will be many hurdles and passing of resolution is just the beginning , the Chief Minister added that there were demands to include 42 other languages in the country in the Eighth Scheule.
“ We will have to work hard but the fact that the Opposition and the Ruling parties have come together on the matter will give a strong message to the Central Government ,” Chief Minister added.
On the other hand, Leader of Opposition, Mukul Sangma said that the state had come a long way as far a getting two languages included in the Eighth Schedule and a lot of work had gone into the matter
He also hoped that the concerned department must have worked on all the minute details to ensure that the resolution was adopted by the Parliament.
The demand for including Khasi language has gained momentum in the state recently as Khasi Authors’ Society recently organized a massive rally in the city to press for it.
As per KAS, according to the census of 2011, the number of people speaking Khasi in India is up to 14, 31, 344 which is much higher than the limit set by the MHA.
Another important criterion the MHA has set is that the language should be a medium of instruction in schools and colleges.