Hindi Connects Tribes Across Arunachal, Says CM Khandu Amid Language Debate

Arunachal CM Pema Khandu said that Hindi is a unifying language in his state of 26 tribes and over 100 dialects.

Arunachal CM Pema Khandu says Hindi unites the state’s diverse tribes and supports learning the language alongside tribal dialects.

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New Delhi, Jul 10 (PTI) Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has said Hindi is the binding language in his state where each tribe speaks its own dialect and language.

Hindi has been in the school curriculum ever since education came to Arunachal Pradesh and there is no problem in learning it, Khandu told PTI Videos in an interview.

There is so much diversity in Arunachal Pradesh that 26 major tribes and over 100 sub-tribes speak their own languages and dialects, the chief minister said.

"If I speak in my own dialect, my own language, people from another tribe will not understand. That's why everyone speaks Hindi. There will certainly be grammatical mistakes... but even if you go to a village, all the villagers will understand and speak Hindi. We speak Hindi in election campaigns and even in the Assembly.

"So definitely, Hindi is a binding language. There's no problem in learning it. It should be learnt," the BJP leader said in comments that come amidst the ongoing row over Hindi in Maharashtra and some southern states.

He said Arunachal Pradesh is a strategic location where security force personnel come from different states and most speak in Hindi.

"There is also the Border Roads Organisation. So there are various other mediums through which we picked up Hindi quickly," he said.

Asked about the opposition to Hindi in some states, the chief minister said everyone has their own mother tongue, every state has its own language and every tribe has its own too.

"That should be given importance... Even I, in my own state, believe the different languages of the tribes should be preserved," he said, referring to his government starting an Indigenous Affairs Department for the promotion and preservation of indigenous languages and culture.

Khandu said he tells youngsters who go outside the state for their education to speak their own language when they come back home.

"Because that is their identity. Because in our country, there are so many communities, different religious groups, different communities, backgrounds. So, preserving one's own language in one's own place is very important," he said. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)