Let the young minds judge
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: October 20 2015 -
Recently a group of 24 students from Manipur attending National Integration Tour organised by Assam Rifles (AR) called on Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju in Delhi.
Rijiju had complimented the organisers for giving children from the remote region an opportunity to visit the national capital and other historic cities to discover the grandeur of India.
As it had been the practice, a PIB report said that the national tour was to promote harmony and awareness and aimed at integrating the youth with the nation.
It was also to promote the concept of unity in diversity. The idea of the tour was also to showcase the richness and varied culture of India to students hailing from the Northeast.
The report said that the exposure trip has given the students a window of opportunity to widen their horizons and “give wings to their imagination.”
Apart from visiting places of historical and educational importance, they had time for recreation and enjoyment also. The tour had also provided them an opportunity to meet important national personalities.
While the efforts of the AR can be appreciated, it is time for a serious rethink on such exposure tours that could reinforce the idea of unity and diversity that India has been propagating since a long time.
Here one is not arguing on the merits and demerits of the tour organised by the AR but alluded to how the same kind of tours organised for children and students from other parts of India will immensely benefit them.
It has been observed that children from other parts of India need to literally open their eyes on the variegated cultures and potentials of the Northeast region which the Government of India has been earnestly attempting to promote as part of its Look or Act East Policy.
Just imagine, children of villages in the hearts of Uttar Pradesh or Tamil Nadu would gain enormous knowledge on the cultures of mutli-ethnic region like the Northeast if they are indeed taken on such tours oragnised by AR.
Given the near total ignorance of these children about the region due to prolonged exclusion of the region’s history from the national educational curricula for children, it is time for the policy makers to rethink on such strategies.
If the region is continued to be hidden and bracketed within the limits of a politically sensitive and conflict ridden space, the children of India will not get the correct picture of the Northeast. Give them a chance and let the young minds judge.
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