The newly-elected Meghalaya Legislative Assembly got off to an unfortunate start Monday (20 March) with a group of MLAs belonging to debutant Voice of People’s Party (VPP) shouting down Governor Phagu Chauhan who was delivering his customary speech in Hindi.

The four VPP MLAs sprung to their feet as soon as Governor Chauhan, a native of Uttar Pradesh and a six-time MLA from that state, started speaking in Hindi at the start of the maiden session of the Assembly.

The four legislators, led by their party president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, claimed that people of Meghalaya do not understand Hindi. He said that he was protesting the “imposition of a Hindi-speaking person as the Governor by the Union Government”.

Before staging a walkout, the VPP MLAs said that since they could not understand what the Governor was saying, they were leaving the House.

The English version of the Governor’s address was circulated to all 59 MLAs (one seat is vacant in the 60-member House) well in advance and, thus, the VPP MLAs could have simply read the English text.

Later, speaking to reporters, Basaiawmoit said that the Governor’s speech in Hindi was “against the sentiments of the people of the state”. “We will not allow this (Governors delivering speeches in Hindi in the state Assembly) to become the tradition,” warned the VPP chief.

Assembly Speaker Thomas Sangma and Chief Minister Conrad Sangma intervened to admonish the VPP MLAs and asked them to maintain decorum.

However, senior minister Ampareen Lyngdoh later spoke in support of the issue raised by the VPP legislators.

Lyngdoh, who defected from the Congress to Conrad Sangma’s National People's Party (NPP) in December last year, holds the important portfolios of health and family welfare, law, agriculture and information and public relations.

She told reporters after the inaugural session of the Assembly that “Delhi (meaning the Union Government) should not impose Governors on Meghalaya who cannot gel with the people because of lack of proficiency of English”.

Ampareen Lyngdoh, incidentally, is the daughter of senior Meghalaya politician Peter Garnett Marbaniang who was a member of the Lok Sabha for two terms from 1988 to 1996.

She herself spent a lot of time in Delhi, first as an undergraduate student at Jesus and March College under the Delhi University and then as a postgraduate student at Jamia Milia Islamia University.

She, however, said that she had difficulties following the Governor’s speech even though the English translation was with her.

“I am happy that this issue has been highlighted once again. We need to be consistent about it. We need to make sure the Government of India knows that the people of Meghalaya do not understand Hindi,” she added.

A similar scene and protest was witnessed in the Meghalaya Assembly five years ago when the then Governor Ganga Prasad delivered his customary address at the start of the Budget session in Hindi.

Congress legislators, including Ampareen Lyngdoh, had staged a walkout in protest that time. The Congress MLAs had accused the Governor of trying to popularise the concept of ‘one nation, one culture, one language’.

Rahul Gandhi has appointed Lyngdoh as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary in charge of Mizoram and the president of the Meghalaya chapter of the All India Professionals Congress.

Congress Legislature Party leader Ronnie Lyngdoh said that VoPP leader Basaiawmoit “has a point”.

While stating that the business of the Meghalaya Assembly is generally conducted in English, Lyngdoh conceded that the rules of the House permit a person to speak in his or her mother tongue provided an English translation of the speech is made available to all MLAs beforehand.

Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, however, stoutly defended the Governor’s address in Hindi. He pointed out that there have been occasions in the past when Governors have addressed the House in Hindi.

“India is a diverse country and it is important to understand that Governors can hail from states which are more Hindi-speaking. Our present Governor, due to his limitations in speaking and reading English, had requested that he be allowed to deliver his address in Hindi. The English version of his address was placed in the House for all members to refer to and read,” said the chief minister.

Reacting sharply to the protest by VPP MLAs, the chief minister said that the incident should not be taken lightly. “A certain level of respect and decorum needs to be maintained in the House, especially when the Governor is speaking,” he said.

“A wrong precedent has been set by showing disrespect to the Governor. If the Governor is speaking in a different language, it does not mean he is disrespecting the House or local sentiments or the local language,” the chief minister said.

In a rebuke to the VPP and parochial elements in Meghalaya, Sangma said “Love for one’s people or language does not get stronger by attacking others or making derogatory remarks about someone’s inability to speak a certain language. It does not strengthen your patriotism, and only creates negativity which is not healthy for society”.

But opinion is sharply divided on the VPP’s protest. While some feel that the Governor can speak in any of the official Indian languages, others said that the Governor of a non Hindi-speaking state like Meghalaya ought to honour local sentiments and speak in English.

“It is a fallacy that the tribal people of Meghalaya do not understand Hindi. Almost everyone does. Hindi movies are popular and even people of remote villages speak in Hindi, albeit pidgin Hindi, while interacting with non-tribals or even members of tribes other than their own,” a senior NPP leader who did not want to be named told Swarajya over phone from Shillong.

Another NPP leader from the Garo Hills pointed out that Meghalaya is home to three major tribes — Khasis, Jaintias and Garos.

“While there is a lot of similarity between Khasis and Jaintias, Garo is a completely different language which very few Khasis or Jaintias can speak or understand. Similarly, very few Garos can comprehend Khasi or Jaintia. And most of the ordinary village folks have little knowledge of English, so Garos and Khasis or Jaintias mostly communicate with each other in Hindi,” he said.

Many also disputed the contention that the tribals of Meghalaya are proficient in English.

A professor of political science in a college under the North Eastern Hill University who is a Garo told Swarajya that the entire controversy is an “unnecessary creation of some Anglophiles who have nothing better to do”.

“The very same people who want the Governor to speak in English in Shillong happily converse in Hindi when they go to Delhi. I’m sure Ampareen Lyngdoh will have no problems speaking in Hindi with Union Ministers and officials in Delhi while seeking funds for her department. For the sake of getting largesse from the Union Government, she will do that very willingly,” the professor said over phone from Tura.

Another politician belonging to the NPP from the Garo Hills said that this display of parochialism needs to be curbed.

“Such parochialism and narrow-mindedness prevails only in non-Garo areas of Meghalaya. The irony is that except for a small percentage of people in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, an overwhelming majority of the people there cannot speak fluently in English. But many pretend to be Anglophiles and ape the West,” he said.

The NPP politician contended that such parochialism leads to anti-non-tribal sentiments among people and the periodic attacks on non-tribals witnessed in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills districts, especially in state capital Shillong.

The VPP, incidentally, is perceived to be a tribal party espousing parochialism and Khasi tribalism.

Ampareen Lyngdoh

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