A dynamic language

It is a matter of great joy that the Assamese language has been recognised by the Government of India as a “classical” language—a recognition that was long overdue. In this context, one must recall the tough battle Assam had to fight to restore the lost glory of the Assamese language in 1873 after the British—apparently at the instance of a Bengal lobby (because the centre of British rule was then in Kolkata)—had removed the local language and replaced it with Bengali in 1837. For long, a section of Bengali scholars and intellectuals had tried to project Assamese as a broken form of Bengali. Thanks to Banikanta Kakati’s hard work resulting in the publication of a scientific treatise on the history and philology of the Assamese language in 1935, which was also his doctoral thesis, Assamese was re-established as an independent language and not an offshoot or whatsoever of Bengali. The criteria fixed by the Government of India for declaring a language as a classical language are also important to note in this context. These include: (i) high antiquity of the early texts/recorded history of a language over a period of 1500 to 2000 years; (ii) existence of a body of ancient literature/text that is considered a heritage by generations of speakers; (iii) existence of knowledge texts, especially prose texts, in addition to poetry, epigraphical, and inscriptional evidence; and (iv) the classical languages and literature could be distinct from their current form or could be discontinuous with later forms of their offshoots. The Assamese language fulfils all these criteria and more. Assamese is the first language in the entire subcontinent to have developed prose as a form of literature and is said to be among the few languages of the world whose literature had graduated from poetry to prose. While organisations and individuals have thanked the Government of India for according this coveted status to the language, it is now the duty of the Government of Assam, the universities of the state, as well as Axam Xahitya Xabha to ensure that there is an overall growth and development of the Assamese language in the days to come. How can this be possible? First and foremost, a national institute should be established for the research and development of the Assamese language. Secondly, all universities of the state—including Tezpur University and Assam University—should immediately open a department of Assamese. Thirdly, materials should be developed under the aegis of Axam Xahitya Xabha so that both speakers as well as non-speakers of the Assamese language learn to speak and write the language correctly. Individuals who shape opinion and have influence over a large number of people—literatiers, singers, public speakers, and teachers included—take utmost care that they do not speak incorrect Assamese and do not use incorrect words, terms, and expressions while speaking in Assamese.