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Our Correspondent
Kisama, Dec. 7 (EMN): Minister of State (independent charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Dr. Jitendra Singh on Saturday said, “Nagaland has become the ambassador of Northeast for the rest of India through the medium of Hornbill Festival.”
He was addressing the North East Zonal Cultural Centre (NEZCC) programme that was held as part of the ongoing Hornbill Festival at the Naga Heritage Village in Kisama.
Singh, who is also the Minister of state in Prime Minister’s Office; Personnel, Pension and Public Grievances; Atomic Energy and Space, congratulated the government of Nagaland for organising such an event, while adding that Hornbill Festival is “now acclaimed and acknowledged” across the country.
‘The Hornbill Festival has brought the Northeast to every Indian household—north, south, east, and west. It is because of the Hornbill Festival, whether you see it on social media or traditional media, that everybody is talking about Northeast today,’ he said.
Conversely, he said the festival has become the “torchbearer of a new cultural journey of Northeast which is going to unite the entire India with a message from a peripheral state like Nagaland”.
The minister expressed delight at the “huge number” of tourists—domestic and international coming all the way to watch, explore, understand, and enjoy what Hornbill is all about.
In the last five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the “highest priority” to the Northeast and to Nagaland, according to Singh. He went on to add that the prime minister even visited the Northeast over 30 times in five years, which is more than all prime ministers put together in the past. The minister also quoted Modi describing the Northeast as the “New Engine of New India”.
The NEZCC programme featured respective cultural dances and performances from the rest of NE states.