IMPHAL, March 20 – Amidst the ongoing fiasco, pro-27 letter Meitei script activists are all set to launch teaching campaign of the indigenous Manipuri script to all parts of the State including the hill areas after the five-day Yaoshang festival. The Yaoshang festival which began from Tuesday will conclude on March 22. The teaching campaign of the script across the State will be taken up by the Apunba Meetei Mayek Sandokpa Amasung Hinghanba Lup (AMMSAHL), a pro-27 letter Meitei Mayek script body. The decision to launch the campaign despite the ongoing fiasco was announced on Monday. Since the demolition of foundation stone of the a flyover project by pro-27 letter activists for inscribing ‘unapproved 36 letter script’ on the stone, a crisis between two groups surfaced leading to two different schools of thoughts.
One group is led by AMMSAHL under the leadership of Chingsubam Akaba for 27 letters and other by Padmashree Ningthoukhonjam Khelchandra, the man who compliled the royal chronicle of Manipur for 36 letters.
However, 27 letter script was approved by then government in Manipur in 1978 and it was later adopted in 1983. But 36 letter script is yet to be approved. The matter was once brought up in the recently-concluded Assembly session for discussion but the Chief Minister expressed his desire to ‘re-examine’ authenticity of the script. It also said that its readiness to face any force trying to challenge the authenticity and genuineness of officially approved 27-letter script of Meitei Mayek and demanded the State Government to make an official declaration that ‘unofficial 36-letter script’ should not be used in future for whatsoever.
AMMSAHL president Chingsubam Akaba Meetei blamed the State Government for the Mayek fiasco in the state. Mention may be made here that enraged volunteers of the body had demolished the foundation stone of the proposed Bir Tikendrajit flyover bridge alleging that ‘unofficial’ script had been used for inscribing on it. For this five of them along with it’s president Akaba were jailed for some days recently. It was the Government alone which is to be blamed for creating a cloud of confusion by inscribing the unofficial scripts of the school of 36 letter,” Akaba said.
“It is really unfortunate that the Government used the unofficial 36-letters by keeping aside the already approved, re-affirmed 27-letter scripts, which has even been published in the State Gazette,’ he further rued. Stating that Government has already admitted its mistake, Akaba also asked the supporters of the 36-letter script not to confuse the public by claiming that 36 letters is the genuine Meitei Mayek. Reiterating the stand to save 27 letter script he said, “We are even ready to sacrifice our lives for the cause of 27 letter script,”.
In order to promote the official Meitei Mayek scripts, the pro-27 letter body would launch a State-wide Mayek teaching programme, he disclosed and informed that it would also recommend Mayek instructors from amongst the hill residents, the teaching campaign of which would commence soon after Yaoshang. AMMSAHL would also teach Meitei Mayek to officials of the Secretariat and other departments in addition to jail inmates and students of university and colleges, Akaba said.