Mizoram: CNCI Reaffirms Demand for Official Recognition of Chakma Language

AIZAWL: The Mizoram State Committee of the Chakma National Council of India (CNCI) has again appealed to the state government to acknowledge the Chakma language officially.

The organization again placed the demand in a statement released on Sunday after a two-day general conference at Kamalanagar (Chawngte) in Lawngtlai district.

At the conference, CNCI showed profound concern regarding the persistent non-inclusion of the Chakma language in Mizoram's list of officially recognized languages. The council pointed out that the Chakma community, which forms close to one-tenth of Mizoram's population, has suffered for a long time regarding linguistic recognition.

Moreover, the council denounced the continued mislabeling of Chakmas as Bengalis in the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities' annual reports to the President of India. CNCI pointed out that such misrepresentation serves to dissolve the separate identity of the Chakma people and causes unnecessary obstacles in their struggle for linguistic and cultural rights.

"The CNCI has determined to actively pursue official recognition of the Chakma language by the Mizoram state government and will take concrete steps towards achieving this end," the group declared. The council pledged to keep pursuing their cause and see that the Chakma language achieves the recognition it is worthy of in the state.

Aside from linguistic problems, the conference also discussed the nationwide protests for the abolition of the Bodhgaya Temple Act, of 1949. CNCI expressed solidarity with the grievances of the Buddhist community on the administration of the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya.

The council called on the central government to settle these grievances and get the administration of the temple under the jurisdiction of the Buddhists.

The conference in one voice resolved to give full backing to the national movement that aimed to seek Buddhist management of the sacred temple. CNCI renewed its pledge to uphold the religious and cultural rights of the Buddhist people in India.

With these resolutions, CNCI continues to insist on pushing forward its linguistic and religious rights demands, appealing to both central and state governments to recognize and respond to the Chakma and Buddhist community's grievances.

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