news details |
|
|
| BJP MPs squander historic opportunity, prefer oath in Hindi | | Dogri fails to reverberate in Parliament | | Kunal Shrivatsa
JAMMU, June 5: The famous Hindi phrase, "Hathi Ke Dant Dikhane Ke Aur, Khane Ke Aur (Elephant has two set of teeth-one to show off and the other to chew with) aptly fits on Bharatiya Janta Party's (BJP) two Member of Parliaments (MPs) from Jammu region while taking oath as members of 16th Lok Sabha today, sadly ignored their mother tongue Dogri but preferred Hindi to make the affirmation.
Though the State BJP unit always presents itself as the sole 'protector' and 'guardian' of Jammu's identity, culture and ethnicity but its MPs, who represent Jammu province's uniqueness in the Lok Sabha did not deem it fit to give Dogri its due recognition, which is included in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution since December 22, 2003.
However, the Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh, who represents Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary constituency, preferred to take oath in Hindi.
If Dr Singh faltered, his party colleague and MP from Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha Jugal Kishore Sharma was no exception as he too emulated Dr. Singh.
A large number of MPs, irrespective of party affiliations, also gave preference to their mother tongues be it Tamil, Gujarati, Marathi and other major languages included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution which in a way was a reflection of these Parliamentarians' respect for their own local languages.
It may be recalled that Choudhary Lal Singh and Madan Lal Sharma, the predecessors of Dr Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Sharma, took oath as MPs in their mother tongue Dogri, which won them back home.
Both the Jammu based MPs, perhaps, even forgot that it was the regime of BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which gave concurrence to the inclusion of Dogri in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution in 2003.
The decision reflected that even the then Prime Minister of India Atal Behari Vajpayee eventually recognized the value of Dogri and gave consent to its inclusion in the 8th Schedule.
Pertinent to mention here that after a protracted struggle initiated by the doyens of Dogri literature like Prof Ram Nath Shastri, Prof Nilamber Dev Sharma and former Rajya Sabha MP DC Prashant, finally bore fruits as the mother tongue of Jammuites was ultimately included in the 8th Schedule.
Earlier, the Dogri was accorded the status of independent modern literary language of India by the Sahitya Academy, New Delhi on August 2, 1969.
"After the inclusion of Dogri language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution of India, we are duty bound to promote it as much as we can…. I made it a point to use Dogri to deliver my speeches in public…. Even I took oath as an MP on two occasions and on both the instances, I preferred my mother tongue Dogri for swearing in…. It would have been heartening if newly elected BJP MPs take oath in mother tongue Dogri but they had other preferences… They should not have ignored their mother tongue as we should make efforts to maintain our identity but if they did so it is upto them only."
-Ex-MP & senior Congress leader Madan Lal Sharma
"Definitely, we are feeling disappointed that both our MPs took oath in Hindi and ignored their mother tongue Dogri… Both the BJP MPs must remember that they were sent to Parliament with an overwhelming mandate of the people of Jammu….. They were elected with a hope to safeguard the interests of Jammu people and to remove step-motherly treatment with Jammu region…. The BJP MPs failed to show their respect towards mother tongue Dogri since both of them are Dogri speaking….. Their act is also an insult to the sacrifices made for conserving Dogri… It is a pity that our elected representatives have failed in their duty to give due regard to their mother tongue Dogri."
-Prof Lalit Magotra, President Dogri Sanstha, Jammu |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
