Northeast student bodies against imposition of Hindi as compulsory subject till Class 10

Dimapur, April 12 (EMN): The North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) has expressed strong opposition to the proposal in the recently concluded Parliamentary Official Language Committee meeting to Hindi compulsory till Class 10 in all the eight north-eastern states.

NESO is a conglomeration of eight student bodies– All Assam Students’ Union, Naga Students’ Federation, the All Manipur Students’ Union, Twipra Students’ Federation, All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union, Garo Students’ Union, Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) and Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) — representing seven states of Northeast.

In a letter to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, NESO stated that each state in the north-eastern region (NER) has “its own unique and diversified languages spoken by different ethnic groups ranging from Indo-Aryan, to Tibeto-Burman, to Austro-Asiatic families”.

The student body stated that indigenous language is an important marker for a community in the region and it is enriched in the form of literature, academics and arts.

“The imposition of Hindi as a compulsory subject in the NER will be detrimental not only for the propagation and dissemination of the indigenous languages but also to students who will be compelled to add another compulsory subject to their already vast syllabus. The NESO is vehemently against this policy and will continue to oppose as it had done in the past,” read the letter.

It went on to say that such move will create apprehensions and disharmony instead of unity besides belittling the indigenous language spoken and written by a particular community.

The student body also urged Amit Shah to withdraw the move but instead focus on uplifting the indigenous languages of the region by incorporation in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution and providing more schemes for its development.

“The NESO is of the view that indigenous languages should be made compulsory in their native states till the 10th standard and Hindi should remain as an optional or elective subject,” it wrote.

The letter came days after Amit Shah said at the 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee last week that all the eight north-eastern states had agreed to make Hindi compulsory in schools up to Class 10.