The Manipuri Language Festival (Meitei: Manipuri Lon-gi Kummei), also known as the Meitei Language Festival or the Manipuri Bhasha Utsav, is an annual language festival dedicated to the promotion and the development of the Manipuri Meitei language, Meitei script, and Meitei culture in Bangladesh.[8] The event is organised by the Bangladesh Manipuri Literary Society (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ মণিপুরি সাহিত্য সংসদের, romanized: Bangladesh Manipuri Sahitya Sangsad).[9][10]
_%E2%80%93_%22Manipuri_Lon-gi_Kummei%22_(in_Meitei,_the_native_language)_%26_%22Manipuri_Bhasha_Utsav%22_(in_Bengali,_the_national_language_of_Bangladesh).jpg) Meitei language festival | |
| Native name | Manipuri Lon-gi Kummei; Manipuri Bhasha Utsav |
|---|---|
| English name | Manipuri language festival |
| Date | 2008[1] |
| Venue | |
| Location | Bangladesh |
| Also known as | Manipuri Language and Culture Festival (Bengali: Manipuri Bhasha o Sanskriti Utsav)[2] |
| Type | annual event |
| Theme | Meitei language (officially called Manipuri language) |
| Target | preservation and development of Meitei language,[4] indigenous Meitei script[a] and Meitei culture[b] in Bangladesh |
| Patron(s) | Bangladesh Manipuri Sahitya Sangsad |
| Organised by | Bangladesh Manipuri Sahitya Sangsad[6] |
| Participants | Meitei people (AKA Manipuri people)[7] |
Festival Activities
The festival is held at Adampur Tetaigaon Rashid Uddin High School premises in Kamalganj, Moulvibazar. It includes an opening address and colourful procession and rally of Meitei students and guests, a payment of tribute at the local Martyrs' Monument to those protestors who died during the Bengali language movement of 1952,[5][11] and a meetings, including cultural programs and prize-giving.[5][11]
Students in the 1st-8th grade (A branch) and 9-10th grade (B branch) students in the festival.[12]had the opportunity to take a written test in their mother tongue.
2022
In 2022, AK Sheram, the president of the Bangladesh Manipuri Literary Society, and Shahena Begum, the then-acting principal of Teteigaon Ramid Uddin High School, opened the Manipuri Language Festival. Later, a meeting, attended by Professor Saurabh Sikdar of the Linguistics Department of Dhaka University, Mathura Vikas Tripura, Executive Director of the Jabarang Welfare Organisation (Bengali: জাবারাং কল্যাণ সমিতি, romanized: Zabarang Kalyan Samity) and member of the International Indigenous Languages Decade National Committee was held to discuss the practice and promotion of the Meitei language and culture in the school.[5][11]
2023 event
The main meeting was chaired by poet and essayist AK Sheram and the organization's general secretary Nambram Shankar. Special guests included Parimal Singh, the secretary of the National Sports Council of Bangladesh,[13][14] and N Ratan Meitei.[15][16]
Publications
"Meira" (Meitei: ꯃꯩꯔꯥ; মৈরা, romanized: /mə́i.ra/, lit. 'torch'), the cover of commemorative collection of the festival was released in the 2023 Meitei language festival.[17][18]