Assam has pulled up its sleeves against Amit Shah's proposal to make Hindi compulsory till Class 10

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• Apr 17, 2022 | Poonam Nath

The Assam BJP is forced to decide, seeking to allay regional fears while adhering to the central leadership's position.

Digital Desk: The All Assam Students' Union president Dipanka Kumar Nath has warned that there will be a "protest" If the Centre goes forward with its proposal to make Hindi compulsory in Assam until Class 10.

Enraged with the proposal by the center to make Hindi obligatory until Class 10 "threatens the future" of "local languages" in the region, according to Samujjal Bhattacharya, advisor to the All Assam Students' Union.

The BJP government in Assam is presently in a dilemma. The party had risen to power by chanting "jati, mati, bheti," the Assamese sub nationalist mantra (community, land, hearth).

As Assam's Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is close to the center, finding a good balance, he said that no central order is issued to make Hindi obligatory until Class 10.

Elating the scenario, Sarma reasoned that according to "Amit Shah, children must know Hindi, and we also want them to know Hindi and English, but he has not said that one must give up learning Assamese to learn Hindi." 

According to Sarma, a student in the Brahmaputra Valley would learn Assamese, English, a tribal language, and Hindi under the four-language program. Students in Assam's Barak Valley region would study Bengali rather than Assamese. According to Sarma, the Assam Sahitya Sabha and other tribal literary groups agreed to the four-language policy.

While Sarma tried to downplay it, Shah's announcement has struck at the heart of Assam's and other North Eastern states' identity politics.

Speaking of Language and identity, the AASU president said that Hindi is already required in Assam government schools until the eighth grade, with students having the option of continuing to the tenth grade.

Adding to Nath's statement, the current proposal does not significantly alter the system in practice. It does, however, have strong political ramifications in Assam, where language has long been a defining feature of the state's identity.

"Why should we accept others' mother tongue being imposed on us?" Nath required.

The Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019, which promotes citizenship for undocumented, non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, has intensified fears that the Assamese language may be marginalized. Many people in Assam believed it would invite a flood of migrants from Bangladesh.

Concerns regarding language have resurfaced as a result of Shah's statement. "Making Hindi obligatory will generate apprehension in people's thoughts," stated Kuladhar Saikia, the president of the Assam Sahitya Sabha.

Many ministers were in with the proposal, and many were there who drastically opposed Amit Shah-led proposal. 

President of Raijor Dal Akhil Gogoi, Keisham Meghachandra MLA of Congress, and Mizoram CM Zoramthanga were seen opposing the proposal made by Amit Shah.

Whereas CM Conrad Sangma states that he would welcome any push to make Hindi compulsory even as he states that local languages should also be protected.

The proposal to inflict Hindi on subgroups has intensified their strain, as they fear losing their linguistic identities.

For the time being, the Assam BJP is attempting to defend the requirement of Hindi. Assam BJP chief spokesperson Kamakhya Prasad Tasa said, "Hindi is the national language, and the Assam BJP wants everyone to study it." "Apunar bakha apuni a roikhya koribo lagibo [Your own language will have to be protected by you only]." "How does learning Hindi endanger other languages?" someone may wonder.

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