“A Suitable Script: Politics of Script and Identity in Assam” in Tribes of India: Identity, Culture and Lore. Ed. P.C. Pattanaik. Angkik Publishers. Guwatati. 2007, Pp. 205-217. A ‘Suitable’ Script The Politics of Script and Identity in Assam Chandan Kumar Sharma1 All ethnic identity assertion movements are characterized by a parallel attempt at creating a new cultural or symbolic order displacing the old dominant order recognized as the one belonging to the exploitative group -- real or perceived. Often explained as a process of revivalism, the working of the process of self-identification can be found in the renunciation and even destruction of the symbols perceived to be belonging to the perceived enemies or oppressors. The Bodo nationalist discourse is also no exception to this. The dominant (though this domination itself is relative) Assamese community as well as the cultural symbols associated with it has been the target of the Bodo nationalistic discourse since midtwentieth century, especially since the late 1960s. The objective evidently is not only to reject the socio-political dominance of the former but also to shun the symbols associated with it. The rejection of the Assamese symbolic order that includes religious practice, dress, language, surnames, customs, etc. is a part of this attempt. In place of these, the Bodos have revived their ‘own’ traditions, which lay suppressed or dormant under the burden of the dominant order. Thus, we experience a strong revivalist tendency in the Bodo movement. In their vent to create an alternative cultural domain of their own, some of the past Bodo cultural symbols, traditions have also been revived, albeit often with new meaning and significance. (Sharma 2001) However, the problem arises in case of symbols that cannot be replaced by reviving their ‘own’. Script for the Bodo language is one such symbol. The Bodos were a non-literate community without a script of their own till the late 19th century.1 That is why, most of the materials for the nationalist reconstruction of the Bodo history in contemporary times are drawn from the Bodo oral traditions. 1 Reader and Head, Dept. of Sociology, Tezpur University 1 Script as an Identity Marker Nevertheless, the script for the Bodo language constitutes one of the most crucial sites of Bodo nationalist assertion. However, in the absence of their own script, the Bodo writers, conversant in both the Bodo and the Assamese languages, had been using the Assamese script (also the Bengali script to some extent, in so far as the neo-literate Bodos from western Assam are concerned2) for their language since a section of the community turned literate more than a hundred years before. But as the Bodo nationalist assertion was set against the dominant Assamese community, it warranted a negation of the cultural symbols of the latter. The subsequent surge of rejection of the Assamese cultural symbols like language and script has to be understood as a part of that agenda. It is, however, to be noted that the Christian missionaries engaged in proselytizing the Bodos first used the Roman script to write the Bodo language in the latter part of the 19th century. But it was by and large the Assamese script which the Bodo writers came to use since early 20th century. However, a new wave of identity assertion changed the situation. The Bodos are a sizeable ethnic group who ruled over various parts of the Brahmaputra valley in the historical times. It was under the tutelage of the contemporary Bodo royal dynasties reigning over the expanding state formations in the valley that the process of sankritization/Hinduization (as a means of detribalization) became operative in the region, inhabited by an overwhelming tribal population. This process, steered by the priestly class brought by the tribal royalties from north India, began here in the early first millennium itself which brought under its ambit the members of the Bodo royal dynasties as well as a significant section of the common Bodos and other tribal groups of the region. This process co-opted many local tribal beliefs and customs into the fold of Hinduism in order to make it more acceptable to the indigenes. The monarchs of Bodo origin also made very significant contributions to the development of the future Assamese language (including script) and literature. What is unique to the growth of the Assamese society is that one finds strong elements of both Aryan and tribal origins in it. A sizeable section of the tribal communities, with the passage of time, completely merged with the emerging non-tribal Assamese society. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that a large majority of 2 people of the contemporary non-tribal Assamese society hails from such tribal communities. However, despite that, the Assamese socio-cultural order has been dominated by the ideological predilections of the upper caste Hindus of the Brahmaputra valley. The sanskritising process of the tribal population entailed renunciation of many of their erstwhile cultural traits. This undoubtedly resulted in a massive socio-cultural displacement for the sanskritised tribal population, even if this is presumed to be an outcome of an evolutionary process of assimilation spanning over a long period of time. It established the Assamese nontribal discourse as the dominant discourse of the region marginalising the histories, cultures, and civilisations of the tribal groups. This process of assimilation gradually assumed a brazenly repressive character vis-à-vis the tribals. The events that unfolded with the advent of colonialism and then in the post-independence era intensified the tribal--non-tribal divide even further, resulting in the intensification of the ethnic identity assertion among the Bodos.3 It is in conjunction with the emergence of this new identity assertion, the Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS), the premier Bodo literary organization, was launched in 1952. Immediately after this, the BSS demanded the introduction of the Bodo language as the medium of instruction in the schools of Bodo dominated areas. Initially, the BSS used the Assamese script for Bodo. However, in the 11th session of the BSS held at Mahakalguri of West Bengal in 1970, a resolution was adopted for the use of the Roman script in place of Assamese. The arguments which were offered to justify this demand were: i. the Bodo-speaking people inhabits different states and Roman script being an international script would be easily acceptable to them, and ii. With only 26 letters in it the Roman alphabet is easy to learn for beginners. Despite progress with regard to the issue of medium, no headway, however, was made regarding the script question. After the Plains Tribal Council of Assam (PTCA) came into existence in 1967, it again raised the issue of script and demanded quick approval of the Roman script in place of the Assamese along with its other political demands concerning autonomy to the Bodos. Though a significant section of Bodo literati, tacitly or explicitly, advocated for the retention of the Assamese script the leadership of the script movement vociferously opposed it and demanded the introduction of the Roman script for the Bodo 3 language. After the autonomy movement entered a more intense phase in 1973, the BSS also made a renewed demand for the approval of the Roman script for the Bodo language and launched a mass agitation in 1974 for the fulfilment of this demand. The All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) lent active support to the movement. After a period of conflict and anxiety that swept the Bodo areas of Assam the movement came to an end when its leadership accepted the Devanageri script in 1975 as ‘desired’ by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ‘by considering’ what is described by Charan Narzary, the then general secretary of the PTCA as ‘the broader national perspective’. (Narzary 1976 quoted in Mukherjee and Mukherjee 1982: 271) It may be noted that Hindi, the state language of India, uses Devanageri script. However, the more radical section of the Bodos treated it only as a sell out and they were steadfast in their demand that the Roman script must be introduced for the Bodo language. The ABSU, for example, held that the “Devanageri script was imposed” on the Bodos.(ABSU 1987: 3) However, ABSU at a later stage changed this stand in favour of Devanageri. The tension regarding the suitable script for the Bodo language, however, refused to die down. Despite the acute practical problems the frequent changes of script created, this issue has remained one of the most important and contentious in the contemporary Bodo socio-political discourse. In the meantime, the name plates, signboards, etc., in the public places of most of the Bodo dominated areas have been transformed from Assamese into either Devanageri or Roman script depending on the choice of the people of the locality. It is significant that the Bodo population itself is horizontally segmented on the question of script depending on their social proximity or distance from the Assamese society as well as the influence of Bodo organizations advocating a particular script.4 However, after the Bodo Autonomous Council (BAC) came into existence in 1993, it went on to officially adopt the Devanagari script for the BAC area. Today, the Bodo language is an associate official language in the state of Assam, and is one of 22 scheduled languages in the constitution of India. Since 1963, the language was introduced as the medium of instruction in the primary schools in Bodo dominated areas. At present, the Bodo language has been recognized as the medium of instruction up to the secondary level. The Post-Graduate course in Bodo language and literature was introduced in 4 Gauhati University in 1996. The Bodo language has been incorporated in the Eight Schedule of the Indian Constitution in December 2003. Problems of the Politics of Script All these warrant publication of a lot of quality Bodo literature in Devanageri/Roman script within a short period of time. This demand, however, is not easy to meet. And the problem is already manifesting. Generations of Bodos grew up reading and writing the Assamese script. They suddenly have found themselves stranded with the imposition of a new script. As the initial demand was for Roman, there must have been some amount of readiness among the Bodo educated class to accept this shift in the script. But that they ultimately had to accept Devanageri must have considerably flustered the Bodo literary/intellectual domain. Besides, unlike Roman and Assamese, Devanageri script was never used for the Bodo language. It is to be noted here that quite a number of Bodo scholars opposed the introduction of this new script. Rather they advocated for the retention of the Assamese script. A similar tendency has been observed in case of the Meiteis (Hinduized Manipuris) of Manipur, who got Hinduized by embracing Vaishnavism of the Chaitanya sect of Bengal around two hundred years ago. With that, the Bengali (Manipuris call it Bengo-Assamese) script came to replace the ancient indigenous script called Meitei Mayek in which the Manipuri language was written till the mid-18th century. Manipuri nationalists now espouse the reinstatement of the traditional script along with the traditional religion called Sanamahi renouncing the Bengali script which came along with Vaishnavism. But there are many practical difficulties that stand in the way of introduction of the new script. Few people know the ancient script today. Besides, school textbooks, government records, newspapers and a whole variety of intellectual and academic activity of the last two hundred and fifty years is recorded in the Bengali script. (Prabhakara 2005) These problems also stare straight into the face of the Bodo society today. The older generation of the Bodos was educated in the Assamese medium and they are not comfortable with the Roman, and less so with the Devanageri script. In fact, many Assamese educated Bodos still advocate the case of the Assamese script. It would not be an overstatement to say that there is a generational cleavage within the Bodo society itself in so far as their familiarity 5 with the Assamese script is concerned. While the older generation generally received education in the Assamese medium, which accounted for their familiarity with the Assamese script, the younger generation is mostly educated in the Bodo medium or in some cases in the English medium and they are mainly familiar with the Devanageri or the Roman script instead of the Assamese. Surely, I do not intend to espouse the case of the Assamese medium (though there is no dearth of debate within the Bodo society on this question) here, but the abandonment of the Assamese script appears to be a decision taken in haste. Though this appears only to be a symbolic break between the two communities, its ultimate result is not likely to remain confined within the symbolic domain and might prove socially damaging for both the Bodos and the Assamese. As indicated above, such rejection of the components of the symbolic order of the perceived oppressors by the oppressed groups is not unnatural. But sometimes treatment of such issues demand greater sensitivity in the long term interest of the communities involved. It may be noted that many Bodo writers/litterateurs accustomed to writing in the Assamese script stopped (or slowed down) writing after the introduction of the Devanageri script owing to their non-familiarity with the latter. Thus at a time, when the stage was set for the Bodo language for greater recognition, and bringing out more publications in Bodo was the demand of the time in order to meet the new challenges, writers were suddenly restrained by the shackle of an alien script. Even today, there is a huge shortage of quality text book in Bodo for Bodo medium schools which has caused irreparable damage to the prospect of growth in Bodo scholarship. It has been mentioned above that the main grounds on which the BSS demanded the Roman script were the latter’s familiarity to the Bodo-speaking people of ‘various states’ and its relative simplicity to learn. It is not that these arguments have no validity. But it is also true that these ‘various states’ are very much confined within the same geo-cultural region as Assam. Thus, it is not a tall order to expect the Bodos (irrespective of by whatever name they are known in different states) of the states other than Assam to learn the script that the Bodos of Assam (the habitat of the largest and politically most vocal and advanced section of the Bodos) adopt for themselves. In so far as the issue of simplicity of the alphabet is concerned, one can only say that for a beginner it does not make much of a difference to learn a new 6 script. Besides, the issue of simplicity can not be the ultimate determining factor for adopting a particular script by a language at the expense of more pressing contextual imperatives. Later on, however, the alleged inability of the Assamese script in adequately representing the Bodo sounds (phonetics) came to be used as the principal ground on which the Bodo nationalist leaders advocated the cause of the Roman/Devanageri script in place of the Assamese. But the question remains: is the Roman or the Devanageri script more adequate for representing the Bodo sounds? The answer is in negative. In fact, there is no language in the world whose entire range of sounds is represented by its script. Moreover, the relationship between script and sound in a language is also often not fully congruent. One only has to recall G. B. Shaw’s famous ridicule of none other than the English language for this incongruence. In the same token, the Assamese script also does not correctly represent all the sounds of the Assamese language. Therefore, both -- the condemnation of the Assamese script, on the one hand, and the celebration of Devanageri/Roman script, on the other – are equally misplaced and based on wrong presumptions. By the way, it is worth noting that several modifications have also been made in Devanageri and Roman scripts to make them ‘compatible’ with the Bodo sounds. In fact, linguists tell us that language and a script are completely different issues. Script is independent of any specific language. Different languages (e.g., the European languages use the Roman script) may use the same script. The same language may use different scripts at different points in time or space. For example, Sindhi is written in Devanageri in India and in Perso-Arabic script in Pakistan. The Sanskrit language has been written in the Brahmi, the Kharoshti, and the Devanageri scripts at different points of time. Case for Assamese Script It thus appears that the Bodo nationalist case against the Assamese script was based more on emotive rather than on any substantive content. Of course, the Bodos have the ultimate right to chose what is appropriate for them. But a critical examination of the issue with a broader and long-term perspective indicates that the change of script has caused the Bodo language and people more harm than good. Some of its adverse impacts have been mentioned above. There are more others. As most of the Bodos can speak Assamese, the familiarity with the Assamese script would have easily enabled them to read and write 7 Assamese. Not only that, it would have also enabled them to learn Bengali, owing to the similarity between the Assamese and the Bengali scripts. Thus, the mere use of the Assamese script would have potentially made the Bodos familiar with three languages. On the other hand, the adoption of the Assamese script would have also enabled the Assamese and Bengali speakers to try to read and understand the Bodo language. The Devanageri script has hardly left any scope for that. It may, however, be pointed out, which is not untrue, that there are few historical evidences that the Assamese or Bengali speakers ever tried to learn Bodo even before the change of script. But is not keeping the channels open more important than closing it for ever? After all, these are the people (especially, the Assamese) who are located in the same socio-cultural milieu as the Bodos. One must recognize the fact that if these people do not learn Bodo, the Hindi-speaking, Devanageri script-using people can hardly be expected to do so. Then, most of the works on the Bodo history, culture, society, etc. have been written in the Assamese language which is the main gateway to the available reserve of knowledge on the above areas. No work, on the contrary, was ever written on the Devanageri script on these issues. Besides, the socio-cultural milieu in which the Bodo culture and society is located is best represented in works written in Assamese. Therefore, no student of Bodo society and culture can undermine the importance of the latter. Linguists also opine that “in devising a suitable script system for an unwritten language, we should keep in view the socio-cultural setting of the language. The new script system should not make the language alien in its own setting.” (Sharma J. C. 2001) It can thus be held that the ignorance of Assamese among the Bodos will result in a skewed understanding among the latter of their own identity not to speak of the socio-cultural milieu in which they are located. Such an eventuality is already unfolding. This will also contribute to the widening of the gulf between both the Assamese and the Bodos, not necessarily in any oppositional terms but surely in terms of indifference. The latter will be no less an unfortunate situation than the former. It is already pointed out that the advocacy of the Roman/Devanageri script is an offshoot of the emotional tide in tandem with the Bodo nationalist upsurge. As the erstwhile ‘antagonism’ between the two communities seems to have somewhat subsided, the time has now come to dispassionately look into the nagging issue of script with a long term and 8 holistic perspective. This is not only in the interest of both the communities but also in the long term interest of general social development in the region. Role of the State At this juncture, it is also pertinent to refer to the role of the Indian state in the entire script episode which, in fact, cannot be understood in isolation from the general policy of the state toward the northeastern region where it is clearly pursuing a project of state penetration, no matter with what success and what expense, through a policy of cultural homogenization in the mould of the dominant Hindi-Hindu model. In the process, the Indian state is engaged in the marginalization or even trivialization of the local cultures of the region. Existing or potential broader identities are throttled by creating differential interests among various ethnic groups and even within one individual group. In case of the Bodo ethnic upsurge too the divisive role of the state at different stages can not be overlooked. The ‘cajoling’ of the Bodo leadership to accept Devanageri is a case in point. Though the narrow nationalistic outlook of the Assamese elites is generally accounted, and rightly so to a large extent, for the marginalized Bodo ethnic backlash, the role of the state in perpetuating and complicating the issue, including that of the script, can not be ignored. It may be pointed out, which is quite natural, that as the majority of the Bodos has already adopted the Devanageri script it will create new complexities if Devanageri is abandoned for the Assamese script at this point of time. Though it is true that this change may again cause some problems for the time being, it is possible to address these problems as many Bodos even today can recognize and use the Assamese script. Besides, the long-term considerations mentioned above also warrant this changeover. Here, one may propose that if the Bodos do not like to call the script as ‘Assamese’ they might also change its name (after making necessary modifications according to the demand of the Bodo phonetics).5 Such a proposition has also been made before by renowned linguist and expert on the Bodo language, S. N. Goswami. He proposes that such a script might be called ‘the Poorvi’ script (which would also include the Assamese and the Bengali scripts).6 To conclude, script has been used only as a metaphor for articulating the distinctiveness of Bodo identity as opposed to the Assamese. Let it now be used 9 as a precursor of a new relationship between these two largest communities in the region. Let us harbour no illusion that we can survive and progress as isolated entities, despite natural proximity, in the complex and threatening world of today. It goes without saying that the Bodo script tangle would be instructive to address the issue of script for the languages of other erstwhile oral communities as well. *********** Email:chandan@tezu.ernet.in Notes 1 Bodo folklore, however, claims that the Bodo language originally used a now-lost script called DeodhaiHangkho. However, no documentary evidence of this script has been available. 2 It is to be noted that the Assamese and the Bengali scripts are almost identical barring a few exceptions and phonetical differences. 3 For a background of the Bodo movement see Sharma 2001, 2006 4 For example, ABSU favours Devanageri while National Democratic Front of Bodoland favours Roman script. 5 This approach should also be useful for other tribal communities of Assam. 6 Personal interview with Prof. S. N. Goswami Referneces ABSU 1987 Why Separate State?. All Bodo Students’ Union. Kokrajhar. Mukherjee, D.P. and S. K. Mukherjee 1982 “Contemporary Cultural and Political Movements among the Bodos of Assam”. In K.S. Singh. Ed. Tribal Movements in India. Manohar. Delhi. Prabhakara, M. S. 2005 ‘Scripting a solution’. The Hindu. Thursday, May 19. Sharma, C. K. 2001 “The Bodo Movement in Folklore and Oral Tradition”, Journal of Indian Folkloristics, pp 1-30, Zooni Publications, Mysore. 2006 “Genealogy Contested: Oral Discourse and Identity Construction: The Case of The Bodos in Assam”, in Folklore As Discourse, Ed. M.D. Muthukumaraswamy, National Folklore Support Centre. 2007, Chennai. 2001 “Language and Script in India: Some Challenges”, Sharma, J.C. www.languageinindia.com, online edition of Language in India, Volume 1: 5 September. 10