Participants of the seminar held at NU on November2.
DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 2 (MExN): The inaugural programme for a two days seminar on ‘Emerging Issues on Language Endangerment in North-East India’ was held today at Nagaland University, Kohima. It is being organized by The Asiatic Society, Kolkata in collaboration with Centre for Naga Tribal Langugae Studies (CNTLS), Nagaland University, Kohima.
Chancellor of Nagaland University, Dr Samudra Gupta Kashyap attended the event as the special guest. In his inaugural speech, he spoke about the dynamic nature of language by drawing on his own experiences and knowledge of languages of the North-east, in particular with Assam.
The inaugural session was chaired by Dean, School of Humanities & Education, and Head of Department (i/c), CNTLS Professor Jano Sekhose. Speaking on the occasion, Pro Vice Chancellor, Nagaland University, Prof Glenn T Thong, opined that the languages of the North East are underrepresented though the region has huge socio-cultural and linguistic diversity.
The welcome note from General Secretary, Asiatic Society, Kolkata was read out by Prof. Shyam Sundar Bhattacharya, Philological Secretary, The Asiatic Society. In his message, he mentioned that The Asiatic Society of India (ASI) is the oldest institute of learning established in 1784. Along with various contributions by the ASI, he emphasised that the institute has conducted two collaborative seminars so far.
The keynote was delivered by Dr Satarupa Dattamajumdar, the Convenor of the seminar, who opined that the North Eastern languages have not been studied due to its minority status. Dr Majumdar suggested that policies need to be implemented, and the language situation needs to be revisited. She further stated that regional welfare programmes at the regional level have to be conducted. She also stressed on the importance of such collaboration in the future.
The seminar aims to evaluate the language environment of the North-East and to suggest and recommend measures to ensure that language loss is mitigated. The seminar will have papers from various experts from all over the North-East spread out over four academic sessions.
The vote of thanks was presented by Dr Laishram Bijenkumar Singh, Assistant Professor, CNTLS, NU Kohima.
