Bihar Government damaged Maithili Language, Centre protected and promoted it: Dr Birbal Jha

“Maithili, the sweetest language of the world was progressing fairly well until 1990 when with  hate politics, prejudiced Lalu Prasad Yadav, then Bihar Chief Minister from Bhojpuri speaking belt attempted to do injustice to this language by scrapping the provision of  Maithili as a subject in the examinations conducted by Bihar Public Service Commission. Howerver, it was restored by Court decades later by the time it was late for lacs of students whose future was damaged. However, Maithili, the language of Goddess Sita  got a boost with Atal Bihari Vajpayee led central government included it in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution. This inclusion  paved  the way for this language in Union Public Service Commission, opening the floodgates of opportunities and prosperity”, said linguist and literateur Dr Birbal Jha while speaking on ‘Education, Employment and Market of the Maithili Language’.

This  panel discussion was the part of  Mithila Literature Festival-2 organised by Maithil Patrakar Group at Press Club Of India held  on 7th December 2019 with an objective to showcase and promote the linguistic beauty and culture of the region,  a part of Bihar where Lord Ram was married to Goddes Sita.

“The Maithili language has bright future and prospectus. The need of hour  is the  translation of Maithili literature into English and other languages and vice versa. Thus, the language and culture of Mithila will register global presence, attracting the people all across the world to have hands-on experiences of the pious land where prosperity is reflected even in scarcity, Mandan Mishra is a case in point.”, added Dr Birbal who has the gained the status of the Youngest Living Legend of Mithila.

Dr Birbal, better known as the Paagman  for his initiative of ‘Save the Paag Campaign’ under auspices of Mithilalok Foundation  following which government  of India issued postal stamp  on Mithila Paag in 2017 laid emphasis on promotion of  Maithili  mass media, movies, dramas and jobs creations for the young generation who is the future of the development of this language.

Interestingly,  recently the Government of NCT of Delhi led  by Arvind kejriwal has taken a decision to introduce Maithili  education and teaching  in its schools in view of 4 millions of Maithili migrants living  in Delhi and national capital region.