President Droupadi Murmu released the Constitution of India in the Santhali language, written in the Ol Chiki script, marking a significant moment of inclusion. The move provides Santhali people easier access to a document enshrining rights fought for by leaders like Jaipal Singh Munda. The Santhals, with a population over 7 million, are the country's third-largest tribe.
President Droupadi Murmu's release of the Constitution of India in Santhali, scripted in Ol Chiki, represents a long-awaited step toward inclusion. It enables the Santhali community to access and comprehend the document outlining their fundamental rights in their own language. Santhali was added to the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution in 2003, thanks to Murmu's advocacy as a minister in Odisha, where she urged then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for its official recognition.
The launch coincides with the centenary of the Ol Chiki script, invented in 1925 by Raghunath Murmu. It echoes the demands made in the Constituent Assembly by Adivasi member Jaipal Singh Munda, who spoke in Mundari to push for recognition of tribal languages and identities. Far from mere symbolism, the event reinforces India's promise of inclusivity, allowing a Ho community member to recite the Preamble in Varang Chiti script, a Mundari woman to read pledges of gender equality in Nag Mundari, or an Oraon scholar to defend a doctoral thesis in Kurukh.
With the Santhals numbering over 7 million as the third-largest tribe, this initiative promotes linguistic diversity and advances the goal of making constitutional rights accessible to all.
