GUWAHATI, Feb 3 ? The Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS) has expressed serious concern over the apathetic attitude of the government of Assam towards the Bodo medium schools and other educational institutions having Bodo courses. In an interview with The Assam Tribune here, BSS president Brojendra Kumar Brahma lamented that despite repeated requests, the State government has not filled up the posts of teachers in Bodo medium schools and even the posts, which fell vacant due to retirement of teachers were not filled up. He revealed that a good number of colleges in the State do not have teachers for Bodo MIL. He pointed out that these issues were taken up by the BSS on several occasions and the Sabha, in its annual sessions, also adopted resolutions on the issue, but till date the government failed to take necessary steps in this regard. He also disclosed that despite repeated requests, a full-fledged department of Bodo has not been opened in the Gauhati University.
Brahma said that the children of the Bodo medium schools have to suffer as the text books are not published on time. Last year the State Textbook Corporation published 25,000 copies of a book for students of class I but the books were full of mistakes and had to be withdrawn. Finally, the Darrang District Bodo Teachers? Association had to publish a book for benefit of the students, he added. The BSS President disclosed that in the last couple of years, the Sabha has laid stress on publication of books for the development of Bodo literature. He said that in the last two years, the Sabha translated and published world famous books including The Old Man and The Sea, Tales of Tolstoy, An Assassination of an Anarchist, books by Homen Borgohain etc. The other books published by the Sabha recently include a book on Herbal medicines, and another book on French Revolution.
Brahma said that the books, which are now being published include Bodo translations of Munshi Premchand?s Godan, and Quiet Flows The Don, Mother, an anthology of Bodo short stories in English and another book on Bodo society and is cultural heritage. The BSS President hoped that the publication of these books would go a long way in development of Bodo language and literature. ?We have given stress on translating world classics into Bodo to give young writers a taste of world literature so that they can also develop their literary skills,? he added. He also said that the first edition of 5,000 copies of the Bodo-Hindi-English dictionary, compiled by Promode Chandra Brahma and edited by the BSS in collaboration with the Central Institute of Indian Languages, has been sold out and the second edition is being printed by a Kokrajhar-based publishing house. He said that all the books published by the Sabha received very encouraging response from the readers. However, shortage of money is a problem for the Sabha as ?we do not receive any grant from the State government for publishing books and have to depend entirely on donations. But we received a donation from the Bongaigaon Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited for publishing books.? Brahma said that the Sabha is also planning to construct a research centre at Beltola in the city. The Centre will have a full-fledged library and an auditorium. Member of Parliament Indramoni Bora has donated an amount of Rs 10 lakh from the MP?s local area development fund for the setting up of the Centre.
Replying to a question on the demand by certain sections for use of Roman script for Bodo language, Brahma said that the issue has already been settled. ?We have been using Devnagari script since 1974 and any change of the script cannot be accepted now,? he asserted.
Brahma said that the demand for inclusion of Bodo language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution was first raised by the BSS and gradually other political and non political institutions have taken up the demand. He said that the BSS has taken up the issue with the Central government and the Sahitya Akademi on several occasions. He hoped that the issue might be finally settled after the signing of an accord with the Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT) as the militant outfit has also raised the demand.
Replying to a question on the BSS stand on the move to create Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) under the provisions of Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India, Brahma said. ?The ABSU had started a movement for a separate state, which was suspended after the talk process started with the BLT. In the golden jubilee celebrations of the BSS, the Sabha and other Bodo mass organisations resolved to support creation of the BTC and we stand by the resolution.?