Editor,
The non-inclusion of Jaintia/Pnar language in the recently released State Anthem should have been avoided by the MDA government which has been widely criticised. While it does not harm our oneness as ‘Bri Ki Hynniewtrep Hynniewskum’ but it is totally uncalled for and childish on the part of the government since Jaintia/Pnar is officially recognised as one of the three major tribes of Meghalaya and therefore, leaves a bad taste. There can be no justification not to include it in the anthem; it’s a misadventure of the cabinet which approved it.
No matter how comfortable we are with English, it not our mother tongue and its non-inclusion would have not done any harm but excluding Jaintia language, it does hurt the emotions of any Pnar and needs to be corrected immediately to include a line or two in Jaintia/Pnar. Indeed, I would like to go one step further. Since we are in this modern era and not the 60s or 70s, why not include War and Bhoi languages as well. After all, the State Anthem is supposed to represent the souls of Meghalaya and there is nothing wrong to showcase our linguistic richness.
There is no dearth of scholars who can pen down a line or two in War and Bhoi languages as well. In today’s time, it becomes more important that our linguistic and cultural identities deserve to be cherished, conserved and celebrated akin to what is happening across the country. Like the National Anthem that binds us together as Indians or Bharat wasi, our State Anthem should bind us together as a State and that cannot be achieved by antagonising a major section of the population. It should be a true representation of our spirit, emotions and inclusiveness as Meghalayans.
I hope the MDA cabinet did not give the same bogus logic which was given to our predecessors in early 70s when one of the three major tribes took the lion’s share while framing the reservation policy through an Office Memorandum in spite of lesser in number, smaller geographical areas and accordingly, fewer number of seats in the Legislative Assembly compared to the other two combined, which is rightly under review.
This is 2024 and such gimmicks of the government will not be tolerated and need widespread condemnations and immediate correction on the part of the MDA government. Let’s not repeat or ignore the mistakes of the past but rather learn from it for a harmonious future of our beautiful Meghalaya.
Prof. Lakhon Kma
Shillong-4
