Bhojpuri vs Maithili | JD(U), Opposition not on same page on promoting languages in Bihar

The demand for grant of “official language” status to Bhojpuri, arguably the most widely spoken dialect in Bihar, has intensified with the Opposition Mahagathbandhan strongly coming out in support of it in the state.

Interestingly, the Opposition parties have raised this issue days after the ruling JD(U) renewed its demand for according classical language status to Maithili.

Senior leaders of the RJD, Congress and CPI(ML) Liberation, constituents of the Mahagathbandhan, said they would raise the issue in Parliament.

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The old demand got a fresh impetus after the Union Cabinet’s recent decision to accord classical language status to five more languages – Marathi, Bengali, Pali, Prakrit and Assamese.

The number of such languages now is 11, since Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia got the tag earlier.

Widely spoken in Bihar

CPI(ML) Liberation’s Lok Sabha MP Sudama Prasad said, “The language is spoken widely in districts such as Bhojpur, Rohtas, Kaimur, Buxar, Saran, East Champaran, West Champaran, Gopalganj, Siwan and Jehanabad in Bihar, and several parts of Jharkhand. Why is the Centre silent on inclusion of Bhojpuri in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution?”

The 8th Schedule of the Constitution now has 22 languages. Fourteen were initially included in the Constitution, while eight more added later.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs website, there are demands for inclusion of 38 more languages in the Eighth Schedule and one of them is Bhojpuri.

“The Nitish Kumar government must send a detailed report to the central government seeking grant of official language status to Bhojpuri. We will raise this issue in the coming session of parliament,” Prasad told PTI.

‘Step-motherly treatment’

The NDA government in Bihar as well as at the Centre are giving step-motherly treatment to Bhojpuri speaking people, RJD’s Buxar MP Sudhakar Singh alleged.

“We (Mahagathbandhan) demand immediate inclusion of Bhojpuri in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution so that it gets official language status. Earlier, we raised this issue in the state Assembly, but the Nitish Kumar government has turned a deaf ear towards it,” said the RJD MP.

Senior Congress leader and MLA Sanjay Kumar Tiwary alias Munna Tiwary said it is one of the oldest demands of the people who speak Bhojpuri. “Scheduled status brings certain advantages to a language. It makes it mandatory for the government to take measures for the development of a scheduled language so that it grows and becomes an effective means of communication in due course of time,” Tiwary said.

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Responding to the demand of Mahagathbandhan leaders, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary told PTI that the demand for the official language status to a language must be backed with substantial facts.

“No one can deny official language status to any language if the demand is based on substantial facts,” Chaudhary said.

JD(U) raises pitch for Maithili

Earlier, the JD(U) had on Monday (October 7) demanded that classical language status be accorded to Maithili.

JD(U) national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha said he would soon meet Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to press for the demand.

In a post on X, Jha wrote, “I will soon meet Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhanji for a classical language status to Maithili. Conservation and promotion of the Maithili language have been my top priority right from the beginning. I had prepared the basis for the inclusion of Maithili in the category of classical language in 2018.”

Due to his efforts, an expert committee of Maithili scholars, constituted by the central government, had made 11 recommendations in its report in 2018, the JD(U) leader claimed.

(With agency inputs)