CJ for govt efforts to protect near-extinct Kharia language

Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan on Friday called for government efforts to protect the near-extinct Kharia language.

“Bangla is our state language, but different people have different mother tongues here. Though the government has already taken some steps to protect the Kharia language, it should expedite its efforts in this regard," he said while talking to reporters at the Bangladesh Tea Research Institute in Moulvibazar.

Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan urged the government to establish a Kharia language learning centre through Kharia alphabetisation by setting up contacts with Indian regions where the language is still in use.

Earlier in the day, Christina Kerkatta and her sister Veronica Kerkatta, the last two Kharia-speaking persons in Bangladesh, from Rajghat tea garden of Srimangal called on the chief justice. The two sisters' parents came from Ranchi, India, and settled here in Bangladesh.