HERICOUN opposes 'Hindi imposition' move
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, April 17 2022:
The Ethno Heritage Council (HERICOUN) has questioned the motives behind the decision to make Hindi a compulsory subject till Class X in all the North Eastern States.
HERICOUN president Longjam Ratankumar in a statement issued today said this and added that the students of this region are already facing the hardship of learning Hindi which had been made compulsory till Class VIII.
Language is a means of communication and people in a particular region will learn a particular language or languages as per their needs, further said the statement.
In addition to this, a number of child psychologists have opined that children in elementary school should be taught in their mother tongue for better understanding of the subject and to speed up the learning process.
As such imposition of a particular subject will only pose hindrance to the students who are already trying hard to cope with numerous subjects, Ratankumar added in the statement.
HERICOUN alleged that the imposition of Hindi in the North East may be a part of an outdated, racial and colonial mindset of a select group of people to create 'One Nation, One Language' which goes against the very spirit of 'Federalism' enshrined in the Constitution.
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which was given assent by the President on December 11, 2019 can also be correlated with this imposition as CAA is allegedly meant at repopulating the sparsely populated regions of North East with Hindus from Bangladesh, added the statement.
The ethnic communities of the 8 States are raising questions whether the imposition of Hindi and CAA are part of a larger plan to erase the rich cultural heritage of the ethnic communities of North Eastern States and forceful assimilation thereafter, HERICOUN added in the statement.
HERICOUN further said that the imposition of Hindi in North Eastern States will facilitate the mass exodus of Hindi speaking populace from mainland India that will eventually challenge the existence of the ethnic communities.
It also demanded a clarification from the State Government whether the decision to make Hindi compulsory till Class X was announced by the Centre following a nod from the State Government.
India does not have a 'National Language' and the idea of 'One Nation, One Language' contradicts the idea of 'Unity in Diversity' which India takes pride in, further said HERICOUN.