By G Allan Lyndem
( This year the Shillong Records Collection Centre (SRCC) is commemorating its Golden Jubilee Year and as part of its on-going commemorative events the Centre wishes to publish and share with the public the Resolution on the 8th Schedule which was moved by L. Gilbert Shullai, the founder of SRCC, in the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council in 1976 ).
After nearly two years of Meghalaya attaining statehood the Experts’ Committee of the Sahitya Akademi visited the State for the first time and held its meeting to assess the feasibility for according recognition to the Khasi language. In the above meeting which was held on Dec 20, 1973, the committee was of the opinion that Khasi had so far not fulfilled all the criteria laid down for the purpose and thus regretted its inability to recommend for recognition by the Sahitya Akademi.
Two years after Dec 20, 1973, a Resolution was moved by L. Gilbert Shullai, Member of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council then, on the March 24, 1976, urging the Council to recommend to the State Government to take up the matter with the Government of India for inclusion of Khasi Language in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. The motion received overwhelming support from other Members of the Council irrespective of party affiliations. Notably, those who spoke and supported the Resolution were Messrs A. Alley, Alwot B. Diengdoh, E.B. Lyngdoh & B. Wanniang, following which the Resolution was adopted and the Chairman of the Council declared the Council’s recommendation to the State Government, then led by All Party Hills Leaders Conference (APHLC), to take up the matter with the Government of India for inclusion of Khasi Language in the 8th Schedule to the Indian Constitution. Below are snippets of the Resolution:
“… Now before we speak about the Khasi Language, I feel compelled to say anything about the Khasis. India is a very big country. We cannot say for sure what nation settled first in India since its creation. Very similar is the case with the North East India. But we Khasis have always been in these hills according to the legend of the ‘Nine’ in the heaven above and the ‘Seven’ here on the earth below…… If we take India as a whole, as far as can be known, the first people who came were the Negroid who came from the west across Arabia and Iran. This was thousand of years ago before the end of the BC era and the beginning of the AD era….. After the Negroid came the Proto-Australoid. They came from the Eastern Mediterranean and the language spoken by them was an Austric dialect. This language was divide into two groups – (a) the Austro-Asiatic and (b) the Austronesian….. It is said that the Khasi language also falls under the Austro-Asiatic Group. Regarding the coming of the different peoples speaking different languages, there was an effort to write in the form of an Article in the Khasi Students’ Association Magazine (1962-63) and this same Article was again printed on the 24th March 1976 issue of “U Kyrwoh Ka Ri Lum”……..
In speaking about the Khasi language we cannot but speak about its literature. Dr. H. Bareh in his book- ‘The History and Culture of the Khasi People’ wrote about the literature and education and said “Khasi literature was put down in writing in the Roman Script…..yet Khasi literature in its present form has shown substantial development and in this short span it has been able to produce its own luminaries who in their own several fashions have given us the first fruits of Khasi thoughts and feelings”……. the statement given by Shri Balraj Sahni in the ‘Filmfare’ (July 13, 1962), in which said – “I feel strongly that Roman Script, in which English is written, should be the obvious choice and, if progressive minded people were to make an effort, this script would be accepted in all parts of the country……”….. in 1919 both Khasi and Assamese were recognised up to Degree standard……If we refer again to the Article 351 and the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution we will see that our Khasi language contributed something. At present there are many Khasi words like ‘shiteng’, ‘jingbam’, ‘iaid’, ‘khublei’ which are used not only by the Khasis. The tea sellers and those who take tea whether in tea stalls or government offices generally use the words ‘shiteng’ instead of half-cup and ‘jingbam’ in place of snacks. In the same way the drivers, conductors and the passengers in the city buses use and easily understand the word ‘iaid’. The word ‘khublei’ especially is more widely used and understood……..
With the passing of time, Khasi literature is making much progress and I believe that the North Eastern Hill University will give an honoured place to Khasi Language. At present there are many Khasi books in different subjects. “Khasi-English Dictionary” (1973 Edition) written by Rev. Father E. Bars is a living witness that Khasi Language is not a poor language. Another, “Khasi-English Dictionary” (1968 Edition) was written by Mr I. Kharkongngor.
Our Khasi language is also rich in adverbs- for example, when a stone falls on water, it is not necessary to say that a big stone or small stone falls on water, only the adverbs ’plum’ and ‘plom’ one can understand whether the stone is big or small. “A stone falls (plum) on water” means a big stone because ‘plum’ indicates that it is big. Again, “a stone falls (plom) on water” means a small stone because ‘plom’ indicates that it is small…….
I feel that I must remind the house that Khasi language is not the language spoken only by the Khasis of Sohra. The Khasis speak in different dialects but they are one Nation. Khasi literature is written in the dialect spoken in Sohra……when the Britishers came to our Hills they first settled at Nongkhlaw but on account of the war they had to shift to Sohra and so it became the Headquarters of the Britishers and the Missionaries. It was for this reason that Khasi language is written in the dialect of the people of Sohra but it does not mean that Khai language is exclusively the dialect of the people living in and around Sohra. Khasi dialects are different in different localities or villages. For example: for the sentence – ‘There is a man who has two sons’, in the Sohra dialect it would be: ‘U don uwei u briew uba don ar ngut ki khun shynrang’……the local dialects at Mairang or at Shangpung or at Dawki or at Nongstoiñ or at Nongtalang or in other places are different from one another. In the Magazine (1965) of the Khasi Students’ Association, this sentence….….in the dialect of the people living in the Jirang area it would be : “Ah umi u karo u ah ir bei ji hun hyntyrmei”…. All the local dialects spoken in these Hills belong to the Austric Group of Languages. Their unity cannot be denied and the differences are at best dialectic variations of Khasi literary language based on the local dialect spoken in Sohra …..
As it is at present, there is no Austric Language in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India and we hope that the Government of India will please to include Khasi Language, which is one of the branches of the Austric family, in the Eight Schedule……. We would request the Government of Meghalaya to take up the matter with the Government of India so that our Khasi language may get a rightful place in the Eight Schedule to the Constitution of India. With these words, I move the Resolution and I request the hon’ble members of the House to accept it.
The above Resolution was adopted and recommended to the APHLC-led State Government to take up the matter with the Congress-led Central Government. It may be recalled that the above APHLC-led Government in Meghalaya ended on November 21, 1976 and the Congress-led government took over and remained in power till the end of Legislative Assembly tenure in March1978.
After one year from the day (24th March, 1976) of the above Resolution, a fresh Committee of Experts (constituted by Executive Board of Sahitya Akademi) visited Shillong on 25th March 1977 making a detailed observation about the visit and also wrote to the State Government for its views.
As it is at present, the ruling party in Meghalaya an ally of the ruling party at the Centre is yet to provide a tangible update and a determined view on the matter.
(The writer is presently the custodian of the Shillong Records Collection Centre)