Meetei Erol Eyek Loinasillol Apunba Lup (), shortly known as the MEELAL (), is a group that works for the development of
Meitei language
Meitei (; ) also known as Manipuri ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the scheduled ...
(officially known as
Manipuri language
Meitei (; ) also known as Manipuri ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the scheduled ...
) and
Meitei script
The Meitei script (), also known as the Kanglei script () or the Kok Sam Lai script (), after its first three letters is an abugida in the Brahmic scripts family used to write the Meitei language, the official language of Manipur, Assam an ...
(officially known as
Meetei Mayek). It is one of the groups that spearhead the historic
Meitei script movement
Meitei script movement, also called Meetei script movement (sometimes also referred to as Manipuri script movement), is a series of cultural wars and :wikt:campaign, campaigns, undertaken by various cultural and sociopolitical associations and o ...
against the
Government of Manipur
The Government of Manipur (; /mə.ni.pur lə́i.ŋak/), also known as the State Government of Manipur, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Manipur and its 16 districts. It consists of an ex ...
.
Standardisation of 27 letter system
MEELAL () promotes the usage of 27 letter system of Meitei script, with the following goals:
(1) banning all attempts to prevent the use of 27-letter Meetei Mayek script.
(2) any organisation found violating the resolutions will be regarded as public enemy.
(3) for the government to consult experts and take up requisite steps for promotion of the 27 letters of the Meetei Mayek script.
Script educationalization movement
MEELAL had a long journey of protesting against the government of Manipur for not making Meitei script an academic writing system for Meitei language in the educational institutions of the state. After countless agitations, their goal was achieved in 2006.
MEELAL organises coaching camps for teaching Meitei script, and also distribute related books, across Manipur and other Manipuri populated areas.
Script officialization movement
MEELAL pressurized the government of Manipur to make Meitei script an
official writing system
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of thei ...
for the state's official language,
Meitei language
Meitei (; ) also known as Manipuri ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the scheduled ...
, in place of the
Bengali script
The Bengali script or Bangla alphabet (, Romanization of Bengali, romanized: ''Bāṅlā bôrṇômālā'') is the standard writing system used to write the Bengali language, and has historically been used to write Sanskrit within Bengal. ...
. They proposed that the wording, "written in Bengali Script" in the ''
Manipur Official Language Act 1979'', should be corrected and replaced with "written in Meetei Mayek script".
Standardisation of the official name of Meitei script
MEELAL objected the proposal of the government of Manipur to rename the official name of
Meitei script
The Meitei script (), also known as the Kanglei script () or the Kok Sam Lai script (), after its first three letters is an abugida in the Brahmic scripts family used to write the Meitei language, the official language of Manipur, Assam an ...
from "Meetei Mayek" to "Manipuri Mayek", stating that
Roman script
The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...
isn't renamed as "International script", and
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
language's
Devanagari
Devanagari ( ; in script: , , ) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental systems: alphabets, writing system), based on the ancient ''Brāhmī script, Brā ...
script isn't renamed as Hindi script.
Script publicity movement
MEELAL worked for the inclusion of printings in Meitei script, alongside the predominantly used
Bengali script
The Bengali script or Bangla alphabet (, Romanization of Bengali, romanized: ''Bāṅlā bôrṇômālā'') is the standard writing system used to write the Bengali language, and has historically been used to write Sanskrit within Bengal. ...
in
Meitei language
Meitei (; ) also known as Manipuri ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the scheduled ...
newspapers, especially in
Manipur
Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
.
Movement to include Meitei script in Indian currency
The Meetei Erol Eyek Loinasillol Apunba Lup () works for the movement of inclusion of
Meitei script
The Meitei script (), also known as the Kanglei script () or the Kok Sam Lai script (), after its first three letters is an abugida in the Brahmic scripts family used to write the Meitei language, the official language of Manipur, Assam an ...
in the
currency notes of India, by pressuring the government authorities to do it.
Script proficiency programs
Script proficiency workshops
MEELAL and other groups organise Meetei Mayek script proficiency 10 day long workshops for teachers of
Manipuri (MIL) and Elective Manipuri for Classes XI and XII, in Manipur.
Script proficiency examinations
Every year, MEELAL conducted Meitei script proficiency examination widely across numerous districts in
Manipur
Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
, participated by 10,000 students in different centers.
Script proficiency competitions
Every year, MEELAL also organised state level Meetei Mayek competition for students of class 1 to class 10 in
Manipur
Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
.
Script diploma programs
Script diploma classes
MEELAL organises Meitei script diploma classes for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year courses, in
Manipur
Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
.
Script diploma competitions
MEELAL organises Meitei Mayek diploma competitions in different places, including
Kakching
Kakching ( Meitei pronunciation:/kək.ciŋ/) is a town in the southeastern part of the Indian state of Manipur. It serves as the headquarters of Kakching district and is a major commercial hub in the state. In 2018, Kakching was declared as the ...
, for the promotion of the writing system.
Conventions on Meitei script
In 2022, MEELAL organized a meeting in which they had three goals:
(1) banning all attempts to prevent the use of 27-letter Meetei Mayek script.
(2) any organisation found violating the resolutions will be regarded as public enemy.
(3) for the government to consult experts and take up requisite steps for promotion of the 27 letters of the Meetei Mayek script.
Monitoring schools
MEELAL looks after the manner of teaching Meetei Mayek in the
CBSE schools and
catholic school
Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...
s in
Manipur
Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
.
Language purification movement
MEELAL works for the maintaining of
Meitei language
Meitei (; ) also known as Manipuri ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the scheduled ...
to be linguistically pure and free from foreign words.
It checks if there are presence of inappropriate borrowed words or loan words from other languages, in
Meitei language
Meitei (; ) also known as Manipuri ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the scheduled ...
suspected books and other publications, as well as even in movies, and music. If non native elements are found, they take actions like banning the publications or productions, and giving them chances of correction.
Classical language status movement
MEELAL demanded that
Meitei language
Meitei (; ) also known as Manipuri ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the scheduled ...
should be declared as a
classical language of India. They requested the government of Manipur to do whatever is necessary to the central government.
MEELAL investigated and exposed that the Manipur government didn't take adequate steps due to which the official recognition of
Meitei language
Meitei (; ) also known as Manipuri ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the scheduled ...
as a classical language is delayed, when other counterparts were already declared.
Opposing imposition of other languages
MEELAL opposed the policy of government of India to make
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
a compulsory subject for the students of all the 8
Northeast India
Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...
n states, upto class 10. It was seen as an imposition, with a threat to the existence of Meitei language and script.
Language day observations
Every year, MEELAL organises the celebration of
Manipuri language day
Manipuri Language Day (; /ma-nee-poo-ree lon-gee noo-meet/), is an annual celebration of the Manipuri (Meitei) language in India and Bangladesh on 20 August. It is the day in 1992 on which Manipuri was added to the Eighth Schedule to the Cons ...
, remembering the recognition of Manipuri language (Meitei) as a scheduled language of India.
See also
*
Meitei language in Assam
Meitei language (), officially and formally known as Manipuri language (), is one of the official languages of the state government of Assam. It serves as the additional official language in all the three districts of the Barak Valley (Cachar d ...
*
Meitei language in Bangladesh
The Meitei language (), or Manipuri language (), is a minority language in Bangladesh. It is spoken by around 15,000 ethnic Manipuris, mainly concentrated in the Sylhet Division. The Meitei language is also a second language for Bishnupriyas ...
*
Meitei language in Tripura
The Meitei language (), also known as the Manipuri language (), is one of the seven officially declared minority languages, recognised by the Government of Tripura. Its promotion and development are done by the Directorate of Kokborok & Other Mi ...
References
External links
{{Authority control
Meitei language
Meitei organisations
Meitei script