Manipur’s lone Rajya Sabha MP belonging to the ruling BJP took to social media on Friday to express his shock over Manipuri language missing out on the Classical Language status despite his efforts in the “last 4/5 years” to get it included in the coveted list.
The Narendra Modi-led Union Cabinet had on Thursday accorded recognition to five languages as classical language, including Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali, a development Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has described as “historic”.
The five languages have joined Tamil, Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Odia in the coveted list.
Tamil was the first language to be accorded classical language status in 2004 while the last inclusion was Odia in 2014, all accorded the recognition during the erstwhile Congress-led UPA regime.
Reacting to the development, Rajya Sabha MP and Manipur’s titular king, Maharaja Leishemba Sanajaoba, said in a Facebook post, “I am very EMOTIONAL & SHOCKED today. Union Cabinet has approved Recognition of Five more Languages — Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali & Prakrit as CLASSICAL.”
Elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2020, Sanajaoba further said, “ I have been trying to include our Manipuri Language in the Classical Status for the last 4/5 years but due to lack of POLITICAL PRESSURE, LOBBY & INACTIVE(NESS) from our side, we have lost a golden chance this time.”
“Very very emotional today, but I will keep trying my level best to include my mother language in the status of Classical till my last day of Tenure. Seeking cooperation of all the concerns to succeed (in) this attempt,” he added.
Manipuri is among the 22 languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, spoken by about 1.5 million people.
The disappointment about Manipuri language missing the bus was seen in reaction to the MP’s post.
A Facebook user, Chingkhei Rajkr Ningthemcha, said, “Not so surprised with the attitude of GoI, how can they be concerned about Manipur? Every Govt in the centre doesn’t care about Manipur from the past. Just take the eg of the ongoing crisis in Manipur. Had they cared about Manipur, it won’t last long than a week.... We expect nothing from them!!”
The crisis the Facebook user was referring to is the ongoing ethnic conflict that has left at least 237 dead and over 60000 displaced since it began on May 3, 2023.
However, Assam was euphoric over the inclusion of the Assamese language in the Classical language list.
Protest rallies
Torch light rallies were taken out in the headquarters of the Imphal Valley districts on Friday night from 8 pm in protest against the Army general Upendra Dwivedi statement in a recent interview to a news website, especially his outright dismissal of any drone bombing taking place in strife-hit Manipur.
