R.C. Laloo speaks in the Assembly. File picture

Shillong, Nov. 30: A petition has been submitted to the National Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities (NCLM) over the “unconstitutional approach” taken by the Meghalaya Board of School Education in making Khasi, a Modern Indian Language (MIL), an “elective” and no longer a “compulsory” subject.

Advocate Fenela Lyngdoh Nonglait submitted a legal representation to NCLM deputy commissioner M.A. Imam in New Delhi requesting him to issue strong “directives” to the Meghalaya government and the education board for altering the status of Khasi (MIL) from “compulsory” to “elective”.

In 2011, the government had approved the board’s regulation for the Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate Examination, changing the status of MIL to an elective subject “in view of the dynamic changes in the field of education”.

“We submit this representation for your perusal for ascertaining the objective parameters of any misuse/non-compliance of any state government, which fails to preserve the linguistic minority of every identifiable tribe,” Nonglait stated.

Terming the board’s decision as an act of “betraying” its own minority citizens, she stated that the action to turn Khasi (MIL) an “elective” subject was an act of “gross violation” and was “tantamount to an attempt to endanger” the use of the language in the state.

“Although the Khasi speaking population is about 60 per cent of the state’s total population and although the language is the mother tongue, it (Khasi) is yet to be an official language. Moreover, the Khasi subject is the only MIL, which was identified throughout the state through the education board,” Nonglait stated.

Nonglait also stated that Khasis, which are one of the tribals getting constitutional recognition under the Sixth Schedule and constitutional safeguard under Article 29 of the Constitution, are yet to be “fully identified” as “minority” in terms of language, script and culture as bestowed to them by the Constitution.

In the recent winter session of the state Assembly, deputy chief minister R.C. Laloo had defended the move saying it would allow students more scope in choosing their subjects of interest and give them a sound footing in choosing job-oriented courses.

He had pointed out that in 2010, the board’s examination committee had recommended giving liberty to students to choose their subjects. Therefore, it was decided that MIL would be considered an elective subject while English would continue to be a compulsory subject.

Apart from Khasi, the other MIL subjects include Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Nepali, Mizo, Urdu and Garo. “The new scheme of studies for arts, science and commerce implies that the students will have an added advantage of having four elective subjects to choose from and not just three as in the old scheme,” Laloo had said.

Earlier, English, MIL or Alternative English were “compulsory subjects” where students had to attain the minimum qualifying marks. This scheme had applied for all higher secondary students in arts, science and commerce streams.

“The step (to turn Khasi MIL into elective) is not discriminatory towards Khasi language at all. After MIL has been made an elective subject, there is more registration and enrolment in the Khasi language than before. It is a myth to claim that we are discriminating against the language. In fact, the steps taken are progressive rather than retrogative, by giving more flexibility to students,” he said.

The government had also informed that it had already taken up with the Central Board of Secondary Education to include Khasi in its curriculum.