Concerning the making of the Hindi language a compulsory subject in North East schools up to Class 10, Rajya Sabha MP Dr Wanweiroy Kharlukhi today said that making any language compulsory will always result in negative reactions.
However, the National People’s Party MP was not opposed to learning Hindi per se and said that he had not read any notification making it compulsory.
“We have seen people in developed countries like England learning French, Spanish, etc, but to make it compulsory cannot happen and there will always be an immediate reaction. This is not only the case here but also in South India,” he told a few reporters.
Meanwhile, on the proposed inclusion of Khasi in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, Kharlukhi said that he has spoken several times, including in Parliament, about the need to recognise the Khasi language.
“There was a point in time where our chairman always used to say that he wanted to see members speak their language in Parliament and I used to say that when our language is not even recognised then how we will speak our language? How can there be a state without a language?” he said, adding that it remains to be seen how the proposal to include it in the Eight Schedule goes.
