Language—The Icon of Identity

Community identity is more than word on a piece of paper; instead it defines who an ethnic group is. When an individual is not considered to be affiliated with a community, confusion both on paper and for the individual is created. This confusion for the individual is often experienced by minority communities in India since states were created by the centre without the consent of the people. This process placed Liangmai in two states—Nagaland and Manipur, which form minority on both sides.
The essential characteristics for the existence of an ethnic group include: language, religion, geographical location, ancestors and race—colour, physical features, etc. However, in a globalised world, the religion, a geographical location and race is no longer a valid binding force for the growth of community. As such, it brings misconceptions like Christian and non-Christian, educated and uneducated, rural and urban, fair and dark Liangmai.
At present, the best and the only common binding force to preserve our identity as a community is our language. Language is a tool of communication, an identity and a symbol of community. We have seen the importance of language in maintaining and preserving the identity of our community. To maintain our identity, we need to make conscious efforts to encourage ourselves to speak Lianglad in our respective homes and outside while communicating with members of our own community.
To step a bit higher, we should stop making our gatherings a Manipur or Nagaland Rifle Camp; resist naming our loved ones in other language; encourage the use of Liangmai Kawicham and Lianglui; give effort to generate excellent ideas and knowledge to translate some choruses in Liangkhon; and stop corrupting our language through import of foreign words like mummy/ama, daddy/baba, ojah/wajia, npung (wanchak)………