Facebook adds Chakma language after Bangla

Social media giant Facebook has recently added Chakma language as a second language option from Bangladesh after Bangla.

There are approximately 10-15 lakh Chakma Facebook users living in Bangladesh, India and other countries, said Jyoti Chakma who has been working relentlessly for a decade with his companion Bivuti Chakma to incorporate Chakma language in the digital platforms.

Read more: Battling to keep mother tongue alive

The community people are happy upon this recognition, Jyoti Chakma told The Daily Star.

"We have been in contact with Facebook authorities for over a year and around five to six months ago they included our language after which we are able to see the written form of our mother tongue in the platform, " he said.

“Facebook did not notify us about the latest update in which Chakma language has been added to its language and region option. We have noticed it ourselves recently,” he said.

In another development, Chakma keyboard was added in Gboard, a virtual keyboard app developed by Google for Android and iOS devices, on August 1, he informed.

“We are now working to include Chakma language in Google Translate,” he added.