By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 22: The State BJP has asked the Congress to be more supportive to the cause of the inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution rather than being bitter about their ‘failure’ and resorting to denigrate those who are actually working to ensure recognition for the indigenous languages.
“That is because he (Vincent Pala) was in the Opposition all these years, Congress was in power and they have not done anything for the people regarding the inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eight Schedule,” said State BJP vice president Bernard Marak on Saturday, while reacting to the allegations of Congress chief Vincent Pala that the state government and the BJP are doing mere lip service to the people on the issue.
According to the State BJP vice president, “Now that the steps are being taken and many organisations are coming forward and it is being considered at the highest level, they (Congress) are actually apprehensive that if the demand is met, then in the last 50 years, mostly the Congress has reigned. It is a total failure of what Congress has done in the last 50 years”.
“Right from the inception of our country, Congress was in power. What have they done and how much have they done? They have diluted the very identity of the tribals in the hills. They have introduced the non-hill provisions in the hill areas,” he remarked.
He said, “They are talking about the inclusion of the Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule, which we are very sure will be considered at the highest level. Just because the BJP is taking the initiative they should not make baseless allegations”.
The State BJP vice president said that the Congress chief should be supportive towards the cause instead of politicising the issue and hurling wild accusations.
“He should support the cause. Politics has its own limits. When they have not done anything in so many years and when somebody is trying to do it, they should actually support (the cause) if they are concerned about the Khasi and the Garo tribes and not make accusations,” he added.