SHILLONG, DEC 18: Paying rich tribute to Khasi legendary bard, U Soso Tham on his 77th death anniversary, the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) today demanded the government to show seriousness on ensuring Khasi language is included in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution.
“Government! Enough of constituting committees, it is time for action to ensure that the Khasi Language gets its due recognition in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution of India” – read one of the banners hunged by the KSU activists outside the Secretariat here on Monday.
Addressing on the occasion, KSU chief Lambokstarwell Margnar said that it is high time for the Khasi legislators to start speaking in Khasi in the floor of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly.
“This will pave way for the inclusion of Khasi language in the Eight Schedule of the Indian Constitution,” he said while expressing full support to the Khasi Authors’ Society (KAS) which is spearheading the demand for the past many years.
Earlier, Congress MP from Shillong Vincent Pala had informed that he was suggested by former Finance Minister under the UPA government P. Chidambaram, that Khasi language has to be spoken in the Meghalaya Assembly as a first step towards its recognition.
It may be mentioned here during a meeting held on October earlier this year; the state government had assured the KAS that it would soon constitute an Advisory Committee to speed up the process for inclusion of Khasi Language in the Eight Schedule.
KAS in its memorandum to the chief minister had urged the state government to move the Prime Minister, Home Minister and Members of Parliament for their necessary intervention to fulfil the long pending aspiration of the people of the state.
Meanwhile, other NGOs and political parties like the Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) and the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) also paid tribute to the Khasi poet at separate functions organized at the same venue.
Speakers spoke on the contribution of U Soso Tham to the Khasi literature and urged the people to love the Khasi language.
Born to a poor family in Nongsawlia in Sohra (erstwhile Cherrapunji) in 1873, Tham, though not very highly educated, had produced many literary works before his death at the age of 67 on December 18, 1940.
A school teacher by profession, Tham interest in reading and understanding the great English classics of the period had inspired him to write in Khasi – his native language.
His translator works include the famous Aesop’s fables (Ki Phawer u Aesop), Charles Dickens’s The Life of Our Lord and his translation of Shakespeare’s work, The Tempest was lost.
Tham’s Ki poetry Khasi (1925), Duitara Ksiar (1931) and Ki Sngi Barim u Hynniewtrep (1936) were the first published poems in a book form and are still in use in schools and colleges approved by the state’s board of school.
By Our Reporter
+ There are no comments
Add yours