Global Naga Forum against ‘imposition of Hindi’ on people in the northeast
The Global Naga Forum (GNF) issued a public statement on April 11 against the “imposition of Hindi in the Naga homeland”.
Union Home Secretary’s Statement Questioned Amit Shah recentlythe Global Naga Forum “strongly” opposed the “imposition of Hindi” in the state of Nagaland and asked: “How does the Delhi Home Ministry manage to impose Hindi? Hindi in schools in the North East?
“But let’s start at the beginning because history matters, and in this case the past has caught up with the present with a vengeance. According to the Naga Forum, in the early 1950s, Mahasabha activist Bhuddeshwar Gohain, headmaster of the Seikho government secondary school in the border district of Tuensang, wrote to Prime Minister Nehru: “I am glad to see that the cries of Naga independence have been crushed by the military, but there still remains the most powerful support of the future revolt, which I am sure the military will not be able to win. That is Christianity…. He will be wise, in my opinion, to verify and immediately replace the Christian culture with the national culture. Education in this district must be immediately freed from Christian influence, even with the help of the army when essential'”, said the Forum.
GNF went on to say that it “welcomes” the study of all languages of the “Naga homeland” – Indian and world languages. The forum further stated that it strongly encourages the teaching of the rich oral traditions and literatures of the North East, India, Myanmar and the world. According to the forum, this is because a healthy democracy depends on two groups of people. GNF also said an educated population that respects and values the best ideas human beings have written about, led by a team of capable public leaders working to promote the common good at home and beyond.
“This particular human endeavor for excellence and for peaceful coexistence among nations with wildly diverse languages, cultures and religious beliefs has been going on for millennia,” he said.
GNF went on to say that India has contributed to the history of civilization with distinction – in the past. But the Naga forum said the current BJP government’s arbitrary decision to impose something like Hindi education on the eight northeastern states does not advance human excellence or respectful coexistence among diverse linguistic and cultural groups for which India is known.
GNF further stated that it had nothing to do with good collaborative governance objectives either. He said the decision had everything to do with the BJP’s vision of a monolithic Hindu India and an RSS-focused “national culture” that the Mahasabha championed in Tuensang seven decades ago.
