Sir,
With reference to T. Sono’s letter “Don’t blame Hindi” in Arunachal Times. He tells that English and Assamese are foreign. Then what about Hindi??
Yes, English is foreign. But to make a bright career in any part of the world, we need English. When it comes to Assamese, we cannot call it foreign. Urdu developed in Delhi, India. But due to partition it has shifted to Lahore, Pakistan. But roots are in Delhi. Assamese used to be spoken all over greater, undivided Assam before 1947 independence day. Later Hindi made inroads into the region because of different tactics by Delhi durbar, through N.C.E.R.T. textbooks and Bollywood films and songs. Assamese was the common link language. But the types of Assamese was different. In Nagaland, it was christened as Nagamese. In Arunachal Pradesh, it took the form of the dialect called Nefamese. Assamese itself developed due to the influence of tribal languages. So, it is not altogether foreign. In fact, we have developed Nefamese. It developed naturally. But Hindi has been imposed from Delhi by policy makers of India.
I would request the Christian missionaries to bring out a newspaper in Nefamese. It was Christian missionaries who saved the written standardized Assamese language of Sivasagar by bringing out the first Assamese newspaper ‘Orunodoi’. The missionaries should take active steps in Arunachal Pradesh to revive tribal languages and Nefamese dialect. This is because all central government undertakings and Hindu missionaries are only spreading and promoting Hindi, they are not concerned about the death of our languages.
Yours,
Takam Yayi,
Naharlagun, Papum Pare district, Arunachal Pradesh.