Dimapur, August 28 (MExN): Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio made it clear that Nagaland State has a clear policy of not imposing any Naga language on any other tribe or other linguistic minorities in the state and towards this, asked the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India, to affect immediate intervention into addressing the difficulties of private school students from the Naga-inhabited districts of Manipur.
Referring to the ongoing impasse vis-à-vis affiliation of private schools in the four Naga districts of Manipur to Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE), Rio informed the Ministry that in Nagaland the medium of instructions in the schools, right from the primary level, is either English or the mother tongue of the tribal area the school is located in.
“The state has a clear policy of not imposing any Naga language on any other tribe or other linguistic minorities in the state. Hence, as far as Nagaland is concerned, there may not be any need for nomination of persons representing linguistic minorities to serve as members of the state level or district level committees under the commission” the Chief Minister in a letter addressed to the Commissioner of Linguistic Minorities Suresh A Keswani, stated. “This does not create any problem as each Naga tribe has a distinct traditional boundary, on the basis of which district, sub-division and circle boundaries are drawn up by the government. In the case of non-Nagas as well as Nagas living outside their traditional boundaries, they can set up their own schools, or send their children to English medium schools which are available in every part of the state” Rio explained.
Rio made no bones of his disapproval against what he called the “serious case of infringement of the rights of the Naga linguistic minorities in Manipur state”. During the British rule, district boundaries were drawn up purely for their administrative convenience, without any consideration of traditional tribal/linguistic boundaries. This resulted in a good number of Nagas inhabiting the four hill districts of Manipur state, viz. Chandel, Tamenglong, Ukhrul and Senapati district, “to become linguistic minorities in their own traditional homeland” Rio explained. To add to their woes, the Manipur government and the Manipur board of school education are trying to impose their dominant culture and language by prescribing school text books that contain distorted historical accounts of the Nagas and their homeland in Manipur, as well as imposition of Meitei language and script (Meitei Mayek) on the Naga tribal students, he said.
“As a consequence, the private schools in the above Naga areas of Manipur have taken a collective decision to reject the syllabus prescribed by the Manipur Board of School Education (MBSE), and to adopt the syllabus of the Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE). The All Naga Students Association of Manipur (ANSAM) as well as the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) have also submitted memoranda to the government of India, and the government of Nagaland praying for formal affiliation of all these private schools to NBSE. The government of Nagaland has accordingly taken a decision to give no objection to the proposed affiliation, and to extend all necessary support required to make it possible” Rio said adding that the matter has also been taken up with the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, which had confirmed that the matter is under their consideration.
Since the above development has created a piquant situation, whereby the educational career of about 56,000 Naga students studying in about 163 private schools in Manipur are at stake, it needs to be handled with care and urgency. “May I, therefore, seek your immediate intervention to see that the affected students are enabled to pursue their education in the language of their choice and without being subjected to linguistic and cultural assimilation” Rio asked.
.jpg)
