Nagamese would swallow Naga indigenous languages: Liezietsu
Nagamese would swallow Naga indigenous languages: Liezietsu
Former Minister, Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu has expressed concern that the native Naga languages are losing ground as the Assamese Nagase pidgin used for communication between the Nagas becomes more and more popular.
“Nagamese, a grammarless lingua franca, will engulf native languages in 30 to 40 years,” Liezietsu said at an event organized by the Tenyimi Students Union of Dimapur (TSUD) on May 26. 8. The freshman meeting was held on the campus of Patkai Christian College with the theme: Preserving and improving culture through education.
Liezietsu, who is also the president of Ura Academy, said that the Naga brothers should be warned of the impending danger “so that tomorrow there will be no regrets”. Ura Academy, located in Kohima, is the first Tenyidi language institution committed to preserving and maintaining the Tenyimian culture.
While aware of the “imminent danger”, he also acknowledged the contradiction of having to speak English at a gathering of Tenyimia students. Such a situation, he said, is rather embarrassing and worth thinking “whether we can overcome such embarrassment in the future”.
The contradictions are quite obvious, but he recalls the situation of the Naga people in the face of the diversity of the Naga community of many different tribes, each with a distinct language.
Citing the Naga Chronicle of Priest VK Nuh, he said the Naga people consisted of 64 tribes, including the Naga people of Myanmar and India, speaking different languages, some with more than one.
He cites Rengma, who speaks two separate languages and was introduced at the elementary level. Even so, he said young Rengma people “still have no choice but to speak English or Assamese”.
“According to government policy, textbooks have been compiled in the local language and included in schools in Nagaland at the primary level. But if it’s that simple, aren’t the planners creating barriers between our peoples? he posed. Of the many Naga languages, only Tenyid has been institutionalized as an academic language, while the others have yet to be organized as specialized languages for study and research at the university level.
The Ao language will soon join Tenyidie in this regard, but he regrets that the other Naga languages do not currently have this organization.
While highlighting the growth of Ura Academy, through the work of early Christian missionaries, he reiterated the Academy’s request to include Tenyidie in the 8th List of the Indian Constitution. He expressed hope that the Indian government will solve this problem.
Law amending forest law is unacceptable
As for the implications of the Forest Conservation Amendment Act of 2023, Liezietsu argued that the revised law would create problems in Nagaland, a state with “special land tenure”. He added, in such a situation, this cannot be accepted. “The revised Forest Law may be a law, but even a law cannot be imposed in a case like this,” he said. Your land is your property, your wealth. If your rights are taken away, you cannot be silent because that is the law. So for Nagas it was very dangerous.
According to him, the National Assembly needs to pass a resolution to completely reject the revised law. He answered negative when asked if the old Forest Conservation Act of 1980 was in effect in Nagaland. He also opposed the Coalition government’s decision to introduce a draft Uniform Civil Code in a similar vein. “We can’t take these things as final because there may come a time when we can change all these rules ourselves,” he said.
“Nagamese, a grammarless lingua franca, will engulf native languages in 30 to 40 years,” Liezietsu said at an event organized by the Tenyimi Students Union of Dimapur (TSUD) on May 26. 8. The freshman meeting was held on the campus of Patkai Christian College with the theme: Preserving and improving culture through education.
Liezietsu, who is also the president of Ura Academy, said that the Naga brothers should be warned of the impending danger “so that tomorrow there will be no regrets”. Ura Academy, located in Kohima, is the first Tenyidi language institution committed to preserving and maintaining the Tenyimian culture.
While aware of the “imminent danger”, he also acknowledged the contradiction of having to speak English at a gathering of Tenyimia students. Such a situation, he said, is rather embarrassing and worth thinking “whether we can overcome such embarrassment in the future”.
The contradictions are quite obvious, but he recalls the situation of the Naga people in the face of the diversity of the Naga community of many different tribes, each with a distinct language.
Citing the Naga Chronicle of Priest VK Nuh, he said the Naga people consisted of 64 tribes, including the Naga people of Myanmar and India, speaking different languages, some with more than one.
He cites Rengma, who speaks two separate languages and was introduced at the elementary level. Even so, he said young Rengma people “still have no choice but to speak English or Assamese”.
“According to government policy, textbooks have been compiled in the local language and included in schools in Nagaland at the primary level. But if it’s that simple, aren’t the planners creating barriers between our peoples? he posed. Of the many Naga languages, only Tenyid has been institutionalized as an academic language, while the others have yet to be organized as specialized languages for study and research at the university level.
The Ao language will soon join Tenyidie in this regard, but he regrets that the other Naga languages do not currently have this organization.
While highlighting the growth of Ura Academy, through the work of early Christian missionaries, he reiterated the Academy’s request to include Tenyidie in the 8th List of the Indian Constitution. He expressed hope that the Indian government will solve this problem.
Law amending forest law is unacceptable
As for the implications of the Forest Conservation Amendment Act of 2023, Liezietsu argued that the revised law would create problems in Nagaland, a state with “special land tenure”. He added, in such a situation, this cannot be accepted. “The revised Forest Law may be a law, but even a law cannot be imposed in a case like this,” he said. Your land is your property, your wealth. If your rights are taken away, you cannot be silent because that is the law. So for Nagas it was very dangerous.
According to him, the National Assembly needs to pass a resolution to completely reject the revised law. He answered negative when asked if the old Forest Conservation Act of 1980 was in effect in Nagaland. He also opposed the Coalition government’s decision to introduce a draft Uniform Civil Code in a similar vein. “We can’t take these things as final because there may come a time when we can change all these rules ourselves,” he said.
