Indologist Kali Prasad Sinha declared jatir janak

Ramlal Sinha

GUWAHATI, Jan 21

At long last, one of the most scholarly Indologists of the nation who had left behind an oeuvre of around 60 books in English, Assamese, Bengali and Bishnupriya Manipuri on Indian philosophy and linguistics, Dr Kali Prasad Sinha, was posthumously declared Jatir Janak of the Bishnupriya Manipuri community on Sunday by as many as five organisations at a function organised on the occasion of his 77th birth anniversary at Dibyasharam in Kachudharam, a sleepy village on the outskirts of Silchar town where the scholar was born. 

Dr Kali Prasad was a Sanskrit professor in Gauhati University, Tripura University and Assam University. His research paper “A Study on Bishnupriya Manipuri Language” brought him the Doctor of Philosophy degree from Jadavpur University in 1968. His research work on “Absolute in Indian Philosophy” brought him D Lit degree from Burdwan University, Calcutta, in 1983. In 1994, his statements and research works that were submitted to the Assam Backward Class Commission played a significant role in the recognition of Bishnurpiya Manipuri nomenclature and inclusion of the community in the OBC list for which the community had to fight a long legal battle that had gone up to the apex court.

The development came close on the heels of poet of repute Brojendra Kumar Sinha terming the Indologist as the Jatir Janak of the Bishnupriya Manipuri community in his article published in the ‘Dr Kali Prasad Sinha Smarak Grantha’ edited by Sushilkumar Sinha of Pouri International, Bangladesh. The souvenir was released at a function at Silchar recently. The article of the poet did stir up a hornets’ nest in circles concerned. 

According to Bishnupriya Manipuri Sahitya Sabha (BMSS) general secretary Mani Kanta Sinha, who was the convener of the event, the five organisations that declared the scholar as Jatir Janak of the Bishnupriya Manipuri community are – the BMSS, Nikhil Bishnupriya Manipuri Students’ Union (NBMSU), Bishnupriya Manipuri Ganasangram Parishad, All Assam Bishnupriya Manipuri Mahila Samiti and the Bishnupriya Manipuri Teachers’ Association. 

Talking to Seven Sisters Post, student leader Anil Rajkumar said that leaders of the Nikhil Bishnupriya Manipuri Mahasabha (NBMM), despite being invited to the event, were conspicuous by their absence at the meeting. 

In fact, the celebration of the 77th birth anniversary of the scholar had begun on January 3 at Dibyasharam and at various other places. The 17-day programme concluded with a function that was presided over by Narendra Chandra Sinha and participated by former GC College principal Bimal Sinha as the chief guest. The meeting also felicitated as many as 20 personalities who excelled in diverse fields. Some of them, according to Mani Kanta Sinha, are noted short story writer Indra Kumar Sinha, duhar (dancer) Amulya Sinha, dhakula (khulist) Dhalamoni Sinha, ideal teachers Puranjoy Sinha and Jitendra Sinha and others.

Courtesy: Seven Sisters Post