Preamble of Constitution finds new readers after translation to local languages of Karnataka

Ashwini Bodh, an ALF researcher working on the project, said, “We have translated the Preamble into these six languages so far.” She noted that the project has received a positive response from community members so far.

She added, “We conduct workshops about the Constitution across the districts to spread awareness. While travelling there, I saw people from these communities who were speaking these various languages and thought that nobody had done the translations into these languages.” Bodh noted that on the principle that something had to be done, whether it was a small or big language, she started the project with the help of translators.

Bodh added, “People do not know that much about the Preamble or the Constitution. At least if the Preamble is in their language, they feel that ‘this is ours’. We have planned several steps. One is the translation and poster design. The second is audio and video recordings via social media.”

One difficulty was the aspect of translation itself; subtleties of the language of the Constitution may not easily be communicated in different languages. Ashwini Bodh said, “Many people don’t have context for certain single values – such as liberty or fraternity. Many people may understand liberty as freedom – but it is not only freedom, it is a separate thing. Some words like that are a bit tricky and required proficiency, with three to four people working on translating and editing.”