Many tongues, one Constitution: ALF brings out Preamble in Karnataka’s languages

Ashwini Bodh of ALF promotes Constitutional literacy in Karnataka by translating the Preamble into diverse languages.

Karnataka, a State encompassing many worlds, is home to around 150 languages and dialects belonging to different language families. Ashwini Bodh, lecturer, activist and researcher at Alternative Law Forum (ALF), has embarked on a mission to weave this linguistic diversity into promoting Constitutional literacy. 

Ms. Bodh has been working to bring out the Preamble of the Indian Constitution in the different languages of Karnataka and so far, has reproduced it in six languages of the State. 

Ms. Bodh‘s work is part of a larger effort by ALF to promote Constitutional literacy in the State. The team at ALF has been actively working towards this since the time of the CAA-NRC protests, looking at ways in which they could help the people culturally connect to the Constitution.

It was while working on this campaign that the idea to produce the Preamble in different languages struck Ms. Bodh. 

“I came across some people in the areas bordering Tamil Nadu speaking in Aruvu, which is a mix of Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. We have so many tribal communities who speak languages such as Soliga. We also have languages such as Byari, Tulu, Kodava, Konkani and so on,” she says.

Noting that it was this sheer diversity that inspired her to propose the idea to the team, she adds, “If people get material in their own language or mother tongue, they can easily connect with it and understand it better. They’d feel a sense of belonging.” 

ALF has so far brought out the Preamble in Aruvu, Byari, Iruliga, Lambani, Malame, and Sankethi. Native speakers, as well as researchers helped with the translation.