Last Updated on 28/07/2024 by Ankita Jain
Bhojpuri superstar and BJP MP from Gorakhpur, Ravi Kishan has introduced a private bill in the Lok Sabha to include Bhojpuri language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution so that it can be given the status of official language.
According to the news agency, Ravi Kishan introduced the Amendment Bill, 2024 on Friday. Regarding this, he said that he wants to underline that Bhojpuri language is not about useless songs, but it has a rich cultural history and literature which needs to be promoted.
Bhojpuri language is very rich
The BJP MP said, ‘So many people speak and understand this language, it is our mother tongue. I wanted to promote this language because the film industry is also running in this language and lakhs of people are getting employment. The music industry is also very big.’
He said, ‘This bill is about promoting Bhojpuri literature which is very rich. Actor Ravi Kishan said, “People will take the language seriously, this language is not about useless songs. The language is very rich, it also has literature.’ The Bhojpuri actor further said, there is a need to popularize Bhojpuri literature, ‘Whatever I have earned through this language, I want to return it to my society, this language is my identity.’
Bhojpuri is spoken in many states
Regarding this private bill, it has been said that Bhojpuri is the mother tongue of a large number of people living in Uttar Pradesh, Western Bihar, Jharkhand and parts of Madhya Pradesh as well as in many other countries. In Mauritius, this language is spoken by a large number of people and it is estimated that about 140 million people speak Bhojpuri, the bill states that Bhojpuri films are very popular in the country and abroad and have a profound influence on the Hindi film industry.
Regarding this bill, he said, ‘Bhojpuri language has a rich literature and cultural heritage. The great scholar Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan has written some of his works in Bhojpuri. There have also been some other eminent writers of Bhojpuri like Viveki Rai and Bhikhari Thakur, who are known as ‘Shakespeare of the Shakespeare’. The bill states that this indicates that some other eminent writers of Hindi like Bharatendu Harishchandra, Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi and Munshi Premchand were deeply influenced by Bhojpuri literature.
Let us tell you that the inclusion of Bhojpuri in the Eighth Schedule has been an old demand of the people speaking this language. The Eighth Schedule contains a list of the official languages of the country, which originally had 14 languages, which are now 22. Let us tell you that the importance of any private bill lies in the fact that how capable that bill is in drawing attention to the issue which is not mentioned in the government bills.