Do Nagas need a new script?

Kamal Attaturk’s adoption of the Latin script in place of Urdu in 1928 catapulted Turkey from a struggling Middle Eastern Caliphate state into a modern Muslim secular state with gender equality and an economy better than even some of the newly joined European Union members from Eastern Europe, Turkey is today a NATO member; a most stabilizing power in volatile Middle East. A script to record the history of a people and its thoughts is of utmost importance in the life of a people.

Nagas adopted the Roman script in lieu of the Bengali script and in just 100 years we have frog-leaped in education to a world wide script. Just a month ago, a Naga woman was one of the main speakers in the just concluded Baptist World Alliance at Hawaii, her speech was scripted in Roman script and people from some 105 nations of the world attending the conference could understand her; because of our Roman script, we can now easily communicate with people all over the world in one and the same script village teachers taught us.
Today, in literacy, we have outstripped ancient Kingdoms like Oudh –ancient name for undivided Prime Minister material state of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous State of India. We are today, in literacy, very enviably placed in comparison with our neighbor Assam and Manipur, who adopted the Bengali script centuries ago. All North East Christian Hill people have progressed tremendously because of their adoption of the Roman script; the Mizos are already the second highest literate in India.

Full report here Nagaland Post

‘To plant language is to plant society’

The Pochury Institute of Literature (PIL) held its annual meeting and training of Pochury language on April 8, 2010.

Director, CIIL Mysore Rajesh Sachdeva speaking as the special guest lauded the Nagaland government by saying that Nagaland is the only state that is legislated for recognition for all 17 major language of Nagaland. He also quoted UNESCO report saying that hundred of languages are in threat due to the influence of major languages. He concluded with the quotation ‘to plant language is to plant society’.

Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Law & Justice, Yitachu graced the inaugural function as the chief guest. Speaking on the occasion Yitachu stressed on the importance of education and mother tongue. He asked the government teachers to be more sincere for they have more responsibility as they are teaching someone’s child and the destiny of the child depends on the teachers, eventually victory and pride of a teacher depends on the success of its students, he added.

Full report here Morung Express

Nagaland poetry competition celebrates region's writers

The 5th Nagaland Poetry competition 2010 in celebration of 175 years of Assam Rifles and 25 years of the Poetry Society India, organized by coordinator North East Region (NER) Poetry Society India (PSI) and Assam Rifles took place on Monday at 16th Assam Rifles with state Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and Nyeiwang Konyak, Minister of School Education and SCERT gracing the events as chief guest and the guest of honour respectively.

The theme of competition is “Friends of the Hill People” and a total of 2,346 entries were received, out of which 1127 were male entries and 1219 female entries. The ten top winners of the poetry competition recited their poems. Addressing the gathering, Rio lauded the Assam Rifles for completing glorious 175 years of existence and for creating many memorable milestones and also building trust with the north east people. Congratulating the Assam Rifles for the service to the people, he said that the AR not only provided security to the people, but were also involved in carrying out many welfare programme for the people. On the AR slogan “Friends of Hill people”, the chief minister said that the tribal people, especially the Nagas were straight forward and stated “If you are his friend, he will give his life for you and if you are his enemy, he will take your life”. The chief minister also said that the Assam Rifles should live with their slogan Friends of the Hill people in the years to come and wished them a bright future in service of the nation and for the people of Northeast.

On the poetry competition, he said that literature and music played an important role in promoting peace in the world and encouraged the budding poets and award winners to use their God given talents to the fullest. He further congratulated all the award winners and released the book The Voices of North East Poets. The chief minister also felicitated six poets of the region - awards winners Mamang Dai from Arunachal Pradesh, professor Streamlet Dkhar from Meghalaya, Head of Khasi department NEHU Shillong, professor L. Khiangte from Mizoram, head of Mizo department from Mizoram University, Bijay Bantawa from Sikkim, Editor of Snowline Magazine, Kalyan Gupta from Tripura, director of art and culture, Tripura and Raghu Leishangtiem from Manipur, Seike Academy.

Full report here Nagaland Post 

REVIEW: The Talking Guns

REVIEW

The Talking Guns: North-east India
Nirendra Dev
Manas Publications
Rs 495
Pp 304
ISBN: 8170493307
Hardback

Blurb
The book pointing at the innovative forms of anti-India resistance from the militants with the foreign support and about the basic problems like unemployment, the compendium should contribute towards better understanding of the root causes of the problems in the North-east India.  Raising issues related to human conditions, the book also examines what happens to an individual when an abnormality like shutting down life by 6pm everyday in considered normal.  The book is, however, not only an exploration of what went wrong; perhaps it will also make natives ask where did we Nagas or Assamese go wrong.  It is also a people's history narrating incidents how the author escaped being caught in crossfire or survived the bomb blast.

Review
A candid expose of the North-east discard Organizer
This is a book about north-east India written on the basis of the author’s personal experiences as he was born in Nagaland and educated in Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya and is currently working as a journalist in New Delhi.

Cradled amidst the hilly wilds, the north-eastern end of India is famous for its pluralistic, multilingual and multi-racial character. The region is home to a number of ethnic communities - about 200 tribal and non-tribal groups living together and braving extreme odds. Mutual suspicion and rivalry abound between the tribes, the clans and even confusion abounds about the historical background. For tribals to tea estate managers, militants in this region have spelt terror. In 2003, a high-level delegation tells then Home Minister, LK Advani that terrorism in states like Tripura and Manipur had ceased to exist for any political cause. Advani tells a meeting of military officials that Tripura, a state with only three million people, has the highest rate of kidnapping for ransom and warns, "No businessman will ever invest here if such a situation continues to prevail."

Advani had a serious point to make with guns reigning supreme and panic gripping the fledgling tea industry where tribal guerrillas-with tacit support from Bangladesh-regularly went on rampage, killing and kidnapping tea-garden owners and staff in a bid to step up their extortion activities.

Towards preserving heritage of language

 The need to promote tribal literature and dialects was stressed at the 3rd national  seminar  on tribal literature and languages with special reference to languages of North East India. The event got underway in Chedema on March 11 at the Tourist Resort.

Addressing the seminar as the chief guest, Minister for Higher Education Dr. Shürhozelie Liezietsu said that language serves as the medium of understanding as well as creative powers. Literature on the other hand provides humanity with the best foundation for advancement. Literature serves as reservoir of thought and knowledge that preserve culture and other aspects of life throughout the ages, he said.

The minister said modern writers do their best to generate new knowledge  in the realms of human life. “We also honour old values, culture and wisdom of our ancestors. It is also a specimen of a person’s originality and identity. Therefore, we have  history in every field of discipline of studies that continues to the present time and will continue to the future,” the minister said.

Full report here Morung Express

Nagamese-Our Lingua Franca

This exclusive but very effectual language has not only found a foremost place in our daily dialogues but even prominent directors/producers are now implementing it in their own works by promoting actors and singers . As Nagas we have the right to express and communicate with our compatriots. Nagamese has structured an overpass between Nagas from all zones and others living in Nagaland.

Having said that, we have to ponder upon what really is the future of this popular lingua franca. Will it have a literary basis in the near future?  Our multi-dialects will slowly cease to exist, of course they will continue in the form of Bibles, Sunday Schools or some books in respective dialects. I often wonder about a different Nagaland IF this blended Assamese+Bangla+Hindi - Nagamese was never there. Probably like any other State in India, we would be communicating in Hindi, English and of course our rich multi dialects. Moreover, I doubt we would be simmering about ‘us’ Nagas being discriminated elsewhere outside Nagaland just because we [majority] don’t know how to speak Hindi fluently. (Apparently we may not be able to change our looks but we can at least learn how to speak and write like others).

Full report here Morung Express