Manipur Elections 2017: Irom Sharmila's party vows to replace Bengali script with indigenous Manipuri one

With over 32 tribes in the state, Manipur is a melting pot of varied cultures. Yet, for the longest time, since it attained statehood, the official language of the state was penned in the Bengali script. In the upcoming polls, Irom Sharmila's party vows to change that.

In its manifesto, the People's Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA) has said that it will amend the Manipur Official Language Act, 1979, to replace Bengali script "with an indigenous script as an official script through public consultation and consensus building among all ethnic groups."

Party convenor Erendro Leichombam says that this will be a revival of the ancient Manipuri culture. PRJA recognises that Manipuris want to start using their own script which has a long history. This is a celebration of Manipur's ancient culture and saves the script from being a lost heritage," said Leichombam.

Dr Yashwanta, professor of Tibeto-Burman linguistics at the Manipur University says that when Hinduism came to Manipur in 1675, the local Meitei Meiyang script, which has 26 characters, was declared obsolete by King Pamheiba. Lots of ancient documents were burnt by the king who adopted Hinduism.

"In 1560, the Meitei language was declared as the official language by King Khagemba. However, around the 18th century, Bengali script came to be accepted as the written language for Meitei," says Dr Yashwanta.

Human Rights Alert activist Babloo Loitongbam, who is aiding in another revival of sorts, has translated an age-old Meitei document which lays down rules in times of conflict. "The scriptures say that unwarranted violence should be avoided. And, we are trying to compare them with present humanitarian laws," he says, adding that the state and non-state forces should refer to these scriptures.

While Dr Yashwanta says that the Meitei language should be adopted, Loitongbam feels that every language has a right to survive.

"If any language is adopted, it needs to be made relevant," he says.

With Meitei being a tonal language, the flavour of the language was lost with the adoption of the Bengali script. However, in 2006, the Meitei script was adopted by the Assembly as the official language. It is currently classified as a vulnerable language by UNESCO.

Yet, Meitei is just one language of the 32 tribes here, and PRJA is clear about not declaring Meitei as an indigenous language. Several languages of the hill tribes use the Roman script, after Reverand Willam Pettigrew propagated Christianity among the hill tribes and taught them the Wngkish language.