Unable to paste Unicode text into inkscape

[sanyal]

I am not able to copy unicode text ( malayalam is what I tried ) from MSword or notepad and paste in inkscape text box. The text is not visible but an empty box is created.
Also, I am not able to type malayalam directly into Inkscape using Mozhi keyman. The inscript keyboard with windows xp is working.

[su_v (suv-lp)]

possibly related:
Bug #491716 “Text copy-paste problem in 0.47”
<https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/491716>
Question #92531 "Chinese text not displayed properly"
<https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/92531>

Did you select a font that can display the unicode characters (malayalam)?

[sanyal (sanyal-r2000)]

I have tried selecting many unicode malayalam fonts - meera, rachana etc. But it does not work.

[jazzynico (jazzynico)]

Confirmed on Windows XP, Inkscape 0.48.5 and 0.91.x rev. 13633, but only affects text copied from Word (not the notepad).

Steps:
1. Create text (Malayalam) in Word (tested with Word 2010).
2. Copy the text and paste it to Inkscape (on canvas).
-> The copy contains a group of paths corresponding to the original text. With 0.91.x, the paths are white so they are invisible on a white canvas (change the selection to black to show the objects).

Workaround 1:
Paste the text to the notepad first, and then copy-paste to Inkscape.
Workaround 2:
Create a text object in Inkscape first (with a single character), and then replace it with the text to paste in the Text dialog (Shift+Ctrl+T).