ZSF opposes Centre's Hindi policy
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, April 15 2022:
Zomi Students' Federation (ZSF), an umbrella federation of seven tribal student organisations, has strongly opposed the statements of the Union home minister given during the 37th Meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee and the views expressed on the position of Hindi both as the national language and its mandatory usage in educational set up.
In a release, ZSF president Nengzalian Tonsing asserted that the characterisation of Hindi as the National language of India' is remarkably flawed.
As per the Constitution of India under the Eighth Schedule, it is clearly stated that "Hindi is one out of the 22 Official Languages of the Republic of India.
The notion that people in different states should speak Hindi is best left to the people themselves and any official move to make this mandatory will be opposed at any cost.
The desire to impose Hindi as the medium of instruction and communication in all education and government offices is simply unaccept -able to non Hindi speaking communities across the country and regarded as contempt to our beloved multi lingual nation, it emphasised.
ZSF continued that the Union home minister's statement that Hindi would be made mandatory in all Northern Eastern states up to class X is something that it cannot swallow.
Emphasis on promoting Hindi examinations, the recruitment of 22,000 Hindi teachers in the eight NE states and many other such moves are waste of scarce finance and human resources.
The tribes of the North East take immense pride in the Modern Indian Languages (MIL) taught in the schools, and any attempt to eclipse them with Hindi will only result in confusions and immense hurdle among the students, it observed.
ZSF made it clear that it unequivocally stands against Hindi imposition and stands firmly to safeguard the interest and sentiments of Zo people in particular and all indigenous groups as a whole.