DIMAPUR, APRIL 11 (MExN): More organizations today expressed concern at Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent reported statement that all the eight states of the North-East have agreed to make “Hindi compulsory in schools up to Class X”
The Global Naga Forum (GNF) questioned how the Home Ministry gets to impose Hindi in the schools of the North East.
A press release from the GNF said that it welcomes the study of any language in the Naga homeland -- Indian as well as world languages. “We very much encourage teaching the rich oral traditions and literatures of the Northeast, India, Myanmar, and the world. This is because a healthy democracy depends on two groups of people. An educated citizenry who respect and value the best ideas that human beings have written about, led by a team of capable public leaders working to promote the common good at home and beyond,” it added.
However, it said that the current BJP Government’s “arbitrary decision” to impose something like the teaching of Hindi on the eight states of the Northeast does not advance human excellence or respectful co-existence among the diverse linguistic and cultural groups India is known for. “It has nothing to do with the goals of collaborative good government either. The decision has everything to do with the BJP’s vision of a monolithic Hindu-India and a RSS-driven ‘national culture,’” it added.
It said that “Home Minister Shah’s effort is the latest version of the 1950s project of Hinduizing the Naga homeland, which is now being expanded to cover the whole of the Northeast.”
The GNF said that the three major weapons in the arsenal of India’s “campaign against the Naga people’s movement for self-determination,” are military and acts like DAA and AFSPA; the Indian Intelligence Bureau “dividing and corrupting the Nagas;” and “bringing Naga society in alignment with Hindu-India.”
“In light of this unbroken history of Government of India’s systematic abuse of the Naga people’s right to self-determination on every front,” the GNF opposed the “imposition of Hindi in the state of Nagaland and the Naga homeland.” The BJP’s current move will be the final phase, the beginning of the end, of Naga existence as a people, it cautioned.
Imposing Hindi will divide us: NLSF
Meanwhile, the Nagaland Law Students’ Federation (NLSF) pointed out that the Indian Constitution has not given the status of national language to any language and therefore Hindi is an official Language but not national Language. “The eight schedule of Indian Constitution lists 22 languages which have been referred to as schedule language and given recognition, status and official encouragement,” it stated.
It noted that the Government of the day giving importance to only one language will break the unity in diversity.
“Moreover imposition of any language over the people with diverse languages will only kill the spirit of democracy that unify us as a Nation despite many differences. Imposition of Hindi language on all the Indians will only divide us rather than to unify,” the NLSF said.
It urged the Government of Nagaland to clarify on the matter as such a decision must be taken considering the grass root level of society “as it is the students who will bear the brunt of Hindi imposition and not those at the top who decides on such policy.”
The NLSF clarified that it is not against any official language of India. “However it will always stand firm against imposition of one language over the people as Indian citizens enjoys equal fundamental rights and no single language is superior than other languages,” the federation affirmed.
It further asked the Nagaland Government to oppose such imposition or reconsider the decision if ever such a decision has been taken as it will have an adverse impact on the students of Nagaland.
