Dimapur, April 9 (MExN): The statement of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah that all the eight North East states have agreed to make Hindi compulsory up to class X is a very serious issue which the UDA coalition has to clarify, the Rising People’s Party (RPP) said on Saturday.
“State educational policy falls under the prerogative of the state governments and any diktats by the central government on the issue is violative of the federal structure of the country and thus unacceptable,” it said in a press release, a day after Amit Shah reportedly said that all North East states, including Nagaland, have agreed to make Hindi compulsory in schools.
It demanded that the Chief Minister, the Deputy CM, the state BJP president, and the Advisor for School Education should “give a clarification immediately.”
Shah was quoted making the statement in a PIB release, reporting on the 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee, in New Delhi on April 7, which was chaired by the HM.
“The RPP stands for unity in diversity and any attempt to impose Hindi in the state/country is crass chauvinism and majoritarianism at play, and the RPP will oppose such policies tooth and nail,” the press release stated.
The party also voiced suspicion that “our state politicians may have given their personal assurance/s to UHM Amit Shah to make Hindi compulsory up to class X following which he must have made the statement.”
To justify its stand, the RPP stated that two years ago, “the state government banned sale of dog meat on the ‘advisory note’ of a central leader seated in Delhi having no respect for our Naga sentiments or our culture,” while criticizing the ‘sell-your-mother attitude’ of the state politicians.
“Unlike the south of India where politicians fiercely guard their regional and linguistic identity, Nagaland being helmed by spineless leaders, and of late rank sycophants, it’s absolutely possible that UHM Amit Shah indeed extracted the nod from our politicians to go ahead with his controversial statement,” the RPP stated.
