Ranchi
On days of some public gatherings and village haats (weekly markets) in Latehar and Gumla districts, some 100-odd km from the Jharkhand capital, chances are that you come across songs, music, stories and even news reports blaring from loudspeakers.
Turns out, it is the handiwork of a team of some 20 members, out to preserve the Asur language of Asur Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Group through the ingenious Asur Akhra Mobile Radio (AAMR).
Who Are The Asurs?
The Asurs are one of the oldest Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) in the country. As per the 2011 Census, their population in India is just 33,000. And a majority of them lives in Jharkhand. Their Asur language has no script of its own and the UNESCO listed it as a definitely endangered language.
Asur is also a reference to Mahisasur, the demon king whose slaying by Goddess Durga is celebrated annually as Durga Puja culminating on Dussehra besides, of course, Lord Rama’s victory over Ravana. But Mahisasur is considered a God by tribal communities like the Asur, by some accounts.
Traditionally, Asurs were known to be iron smelters. However, with passage of time, most of them have now adopted agriculture as a means of living.
The Germination Of Idea
It was in 2006 that the Jharkhandi Bhasha Sahitya Sanskriti Akhra first initiated the move to preserve and enrich the language and culture of Asurs and it began with publication of texts.
“Over the years thereafter, the need to launch a broadcast system for the community was felt. But then a frequency-based community radio station requires clearances from the Government and entails considerable investment. Moreover, a community radio in a tribal belt is useless unless that broadcasts in their own language and that hardly happens. So, an alternative unique community radio for the revival of Asur language was worked out,“ Jharkhandi Bhasha Sahitya Sanskriti Akhra general secretary Vandana Tete told The Indian Tribal.
“Our mother organization Pyara Foundation and some donations by our well-wishers helped us trudge forward,” Tete, who is the coordinator of AAMR, maintained.
What Is the Asur Akhra Mobile Radio (AAMR)?
Conceived in 2019, the Asur Akhra Mobile Radio became functional three years ago. And, naturally, it was not the conventional community radio or an FM channel.
Instead, the team records the contents, mostly in open fields and especially in Jobhipat and Sakhuapani villages in Bishunpur block Gumla district, surrounded by the picturesque Netarhat hillocks. The recorded items are then transferred to pen drives. Thereafter, they carry sound boxes or loudspeakers on their bicycles or even their own heads to the nearby village markets or wherever there are substantial gatherings and play the recorded numbers ranging from folklore, modern musical ventures, news reports, stories and the likes.
She pointed out that the productions by this community radio are also available on You Tube and such other forums of social media. A training programme too was organised to enable the committee members make the best use of their available resources and technologies, Tete pointed out adding the radio will soon become functional in the nearby Lupingpat village.
The Team
“It is a 20-member team, headed by Chait Toppo,” Tete informed.
Asinta Asur, Roshni Asur, Milan Asur, Sushma Asur, Ropni Asur, Ajay and Shraddhanand are story tellers while Vivek Asur, Ramesh Toppo and Barnbas Toppo are radio jockeys. And, the news readers and anchors include Sushanti Asur, Santoshi Asur and Divya Asur.
While they don’t have a proper studio due to a resource crunch, the initiative is steadily gaining popularity.
It has been “able to generate interest among Asur youths about their own language” and some youths have even started writing in Asur language, using the Devnagri script.
Storyteller Asinta Asur was even invited to an international literary festival in Bhopal last year by virtue of her association with AAMR.
