Bodo Students’ Body Protests Omission of Devanagari Script from Bodo Language in Dictionary.

Dalim Phukan.
Hills Live News, Morigaon, September 21: The Morigaon district unit of the All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) has strongly protested against the omission of the Devanagari script for the Bodo language in the recently released Hemkosh Supplement dictionary and demanded immediate correction of what it termed an error.
The much-awaited Hemkosh Supplement, a multilingual dictionary, was formally released at a solemn function held yesterday at the Kanaklal Barua Auditorium on the premises of the State Museum at Ambari in Guwahati. However, the publication has drawn strong dissatisfaction from the Morigaon district unit of ABSU and various organisations representing the Bodo community.
Reacting to the issue, Morigaon district ABSU president Joy Chandra Boro said they welcomed the initiative to publish a dictionary incorporating languages such as Bodo, Mising, Karbi and Rabha. However, he said the organisation had serious objections to the script used for the Bodo language.
According to Boro, Bodo is one of the rich languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India and is also an associate official language of Assam. He pointed out that Devanagari is the officially recognised script of the Bodo language.
He alleged that the decision to prepare the Bodo section of the dictionary only in the Assamese script, without using Devanagari, was unacceptable. The ABSU strongly opposed the move and demanded its rectification.
Appealing to Jayanta Barua, chairman of the Sadin-Pratidin group, Boro said it was unfortunate that the first edition of the dictionary had been published without adequately consulting the Bodo community, its language and cultural organisations, and other representative bodies.
He demanded that whenever the dictionary is reprinted or a new edition is brought out, the authentic Devanagari script of the Bodo language must be included alongside the Assamese script.
Boro also questioned how such an error could have occurred despite the presence of eminent personalities such as former Bodo Sahitya Sabha president Taren Boro and vice-president Prashanta Boro on the advisory committee of the project. He said the members of the advisory committee should have provided proper guidance on the matter.
He warned that such mistakes should not be repeated in the future.
Claiming that protests over the issue had already been staged in different parts of Assam, the Morigaon district ABSU demanded that the errors in the dictionary be corrected at the earliest before its distribution and republication.
Morigaon district ABSU secretary Pabitra Deuri, ABSU central committee public relations secretary Nitu Kumar Boro, former Bodo Sahitya Sabha president Pushpadhar Mahela and Gerua regional ABSU president Paresh Konwar, among several other office-bearers, were present during the programme where the students’ body expressed its resentment before the media.