Guwahati, Jan. 27: Asam Sahitya Sabha today rejected Bodo Sahitya Sabha's language policy that proposed Assamese as the third language in the BTAD.

The BSS, in its recent 55th annual conference held in lower Assam's Chirang district, announced its language policy proposing Bodo as the main language in the BTAD, English second and Hindi and Assamese as third languages. On January 22, the policy was endorsed by a delegate meeting of the BSS.

"We reject the language policy of the Bodo Sahitya Sabha. The policy violates the Assam Official Language Act, 1960, which was an outcome of an agitation where people lost their lives and many got displaced," said Sabha president Dhruba Jyoti Borah while addressing the media here this afternoon.

"Under no circumstances can we accept Assamese as the third language in any area of the Brahmaputra Valley where the Assamese language and culture is deeply rooted. It would have been different had the area been Barak valley or the hill districts," said Borah.

The Sabha, he said, respects every community taking education in the mother tongue. "We want Bodo to be the first language in the BTAD, Assamese as second and English the third, while students should also be taught practical Hindi," he said.

Borah said the Sabha since its inception has been responsible towards Assamese and other regional languages of the state. He said the Sabha has played a crucial role in the growth and development of the regional languages. "Everyone knows how Asam Sahitya Sabha and those associated with it have done for development of the regional languages. We are committed to development of all regional languages. May be because of some limitations we are unable to do as much as it was needed," he said.

Borah said it was only the Sabha that has been saying that Bodo should be the associate official language in Assam. "But I have observed that since the new executive of the Sabha took its charge, the BSS has always been uncooperative. It refuses to talk things over despite receiving letters from us," he said.

There has been an open war between the two sabhas. In the recent session, the BSS did not invite officials of the Sabha citing differences of opinion. When the BSS's language policy became public, it drew criticism from different quarters.

Borah today said the policy may create a rift among different communities in the state.

He said the BSS's policy may also be a result of an "international conspiracy" related to religious conversion. "Earlier Christian missionaries used the mother tongue of a community to reach out to it. That is why when they came to Assam they translated the Bible into Assamese. But their policy changed afterwards. Now they do not encourage mother tongue. They encourage English. May be the influence of this has fallen on the Bodo community," said Borah.

He said the Assamese are liberal, so whichever community migrated to the state has accepted Assamese as its mother tongue.

"We will not sit idle. We will send letters to the Centre and the state government regarding the language policy of the BSS and, if required, knock on the door of the court," said Borah.