BY JIGMET DADUL
LEH: “Himalayan Buddhist Cultural Association (HBCA) for the last 40 years has been making unrelenting efforts for providing recognition to Bhoti language at national level by including it in the 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution”. This was stated by the president of HBCA Tashi Targais during a press conference held in Leh on Thursday.
“Inclusion of Bhoti language in 8th Schedule of the Constitution and opening of Kailash Maansarovar Yatra route from Demjok Leh were the long pending demands of the people living in the Himalayan region. Spoken by over 16 million people across the region starting from J and K to Arunachal Pradesh, Bhoti language deserves national recognition and it should be included in the 8th Schedule of Constitution”, Targais maintained.
Tsewang Dorjay Assistant Director (Retd.) HBCA said that State Governments of J and K, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have already submitted their recommendations to the central government for the inclusion of Bhoti language. He further informed that in 2008, the Central Institute of Indian Language (CIIL) Mysore conducted a comprehensive survey on Bhoti language and submitted its report to the government of India with strong recommendation to recognise it as the language of Himalayan people.
Targais also accused political parties of misusing such issues for satiating their vested interests. He said that during elections, political parties highlight such issues in their manifestos just to befool people but after grabbing power these parties simply forget the promises and assurances. He said that BJP had won the Ladakh Parliamentary seat only on these issues but it is unfortunate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other helmsmen in his Cabinet have forgotten the promises made during their visit to Ladakh.
