India has granted Bengali along with four other languages as a classic language to preserve it's rich heritage.
Marathi, Pali, Prakrit and Assamese are the other languages who got the status on Thursday.
Six languages, including Tamil (2004), Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013), and Odia (2014) are already holding the title of "Classical" in India.
All the Classical Languages are listed under the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the Cabinet Decision to confer Classical Language status to thisylanguages.
On Bengali, he wrote on X: “I am very happy that the great Bengali language has been conferred the status of a Classical Language, especially during the auspicious time of Durga Puja. Bengali literature has inspired countless people for years. I congratulate all the Bengali speakers all over the world on this."
"I am confident that after the Cabinet decision on recognising them as Classical Languages, more people will be motivated to learn about them. This is indeed a joyous moment!," Modi further wrote.
Some of these languages have been fighting for classical language status for a decade, the Indian newspaper Business Standard reports.
What is the Classical language of India?
The term "Indian classical languages" refers to a group of languages that have a long history and a rich, unique, and distinctive literary legacy.
In 2004, the Indian government announced that languages might hold the title of "Classical Language" of India if they fulfilled a number of certain requirements.
Those include:
* Early texts or documented history of the language must be between 1500 and 2000 years old.
- The language must have ancient literature or texts that its speakers value as part of their cultural legacy.
- The language's literary heritage needs to be original and not borrowed from another speech community.
- There should be a possible discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or derivatives, and the classical language and literature should be separate from its modern form.
It was established by the Linguistic Experts' Committee and the Ministry of Culture.
The Indian government established a committee to examine requests for the designation of certain languages as classical, the Business Standard of India reports.
What is the significance?
According to a government of India resolution, issued on November 1, 2004, a language designated as a "Classical Language" will have the following significance:
- Every year, two significant international awards are given to distinguished scholars of classical Indian languages.
- The establishment of a Center of Excellence for Classical Language Studies.
- The University Grants Commission will be asked to establish a specific number of Professional Chairs for Classical Languages for distinguished scholars of Classical Indian Languages, starting at least in the Central Universities.
