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<div class="gmail-row"><div class="gmail-heading-part"><h1>How Hindi became Arunachal Pradesh’s lingua franca</h1>
<h2 class="gmail-synopsis">Ironically,
it is the presence of a large number of native languages in Arunachal
Pradesh that is the key reason behind Hindi gaining currency in the
state.</h2>
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<div class="editor" id="gmail-storycenterbyline"> Written by <a href="http://indianexpress.com/profile/author/adrija-roychowdhury/" class="gmail-bulletProj" id="gmail-written_by1">Adrija Roychowdhury</a>
| New Delhi |
<span>
Updated: February 27, 2018 7:37 am </span>
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<span>
</span><span class="gmail-custom-caption"><img class="gmail-wp-image-5057208 gmail-size-full" src="http://images.indianexpress.com/2018/02/arunachal-pradesh.jpg" alt="Arunachal Pradesh, Narendra Modi, Hindi in Arunachal Pradesh, languages in Arunachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh language, Arunachal pradesh news, north east news, India news, Indian Express" style="display: inline;">
Ironically, it is the presence of a large number of native languages in
Arunachal Pradesh that is the key reason behind Hindi gaining currency
in the state. (Tashi Tobgyal New Delhi)</span>
<p>“Even if a child speaks in his native language until the age of five,
the moment he goes to school he automatically picks up Hindi. That is
the contact language of the peer group,” says Jumyir Basir about the
popularity of Hindi among the people of Arunachal Pradesh. Basir, who
teaches Tribal Studies in <a href="http://indianexpress.com/about/rajiv-gandhi">Rajiv Gandhi</a>
University at Itanagar, believes that in Arunachal Pradesh, unlike
other northeastern states, Hindi has over time grown to become the
lingua franca. In saying this, she was only validating Prime Minister <a href="http://indianexpress.com/about/narendra-modi">Narendra Modi</a>’s
recent assertion during campaigning in the state. Modi had stated if
there was a state in the northeast where Hindi was spoken widely, it was
“my Arunachal”.</p>
<blockquote><p>“If you travel to Arunachal Pradesh for a day, you will
hear more Jai Hind than you will hear after travelling the entire
country for a week,” he had said.</p></blockquote>
<p>The popularity of Hindi in Arunachal Pradesh has been well documented
in the past few years. About 90 per cent of the state’s population can
speak the language and Hindi is used among other languages during
debates in the state legislative assembly as well. According to the most
recent language survey carried out by renowned language critic G.N.
Devy in 2010, Arunachal Pradesh is home to around 90 local languages.
Yet, the state’s preference for Hindi as a common language over its many
local languages sets it apart from its Northeastern sister states where
the preference for the native language is known to be very strong.
“Unlike other northeastern states, we did not have a language movement
here because all of us speak different dialects. In my own community I
might converse in my own language but if I have to converse with someone
from some other tribe, I have to use a contact language. Therefore
Hindi has become like a lingua franca,” says Basir.</p>
<p>Ironically, it is the presence of a large number of native languages
in Arunachal Pradesh that is the key reason behind Hindi gaining
currency in the state. However, historical and political factors have
also played a role in spreading the predominantly North Indian tongue
across the Northeastern state.</p>
<h2>The breakaway from Assam</h2>
<p>At the time of India’s Independence, the present territory of
Arunachal Pradesh was part of the tribal areas of Assam. It was renamed
as the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) in 1951. Between 1950 and 1965,
the area was administered by the Governor of Assam who worked as an
agent of the President of India under the Ministry of External Affairs.
During this period, the medium of instruction in all educational
institutions was Assamese.</p><div id="gmail-inarticle_wrapper_div"><div id="gmail-inread1_26817" style="display:inline-block;overflow:hidden;clear:both"><div id="gmail-inread_26817" style="height:1px;overflow:hidden" class="gmail-mainAdView"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr id="gmail-zd_tr_26817"><td id="gmail-zd_td_26817" style="opacity:0"><div id="gmail-mainFrame"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_26817"><div style="visibility: visible;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_268170" style="width:640px;height:360px"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_268171"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_268172"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_268173"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_268174"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_268175"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_268176"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_268177"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_268178"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_268179"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681710"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681711"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681712"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681713"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681714"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681715"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681716"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681717"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681718"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681719"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681720"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681721"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681722"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681723"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681724"></div></div><div style="visibility: visible; left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-inReadMovie_2681725"></div></div></div><div id="gmail-passbackWrapper"></div><div id="gmail-multipleWrapper"></div></div><div id="gmail-lastFrameWrapper" style="left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-lastframe" style="overflow:hidden"></div></div><div id="gmail-mediaWrapper" style="left: -99999px; top: -99999px;"><div id="gmail-mediaframe"></div><span id="gmail-timeDuration" style="font-size:15px;color:rgb(255,255,255);width:100%;height:auto;text-align:center"></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div>
<p>However, in 1965, the NEFA was removed from under the administration
of the Governor of Assam and placed under the Ministry of Home Affairs,
in 1972 the NEFA was turned into the union territory of Arunachal
Pradesh and in 1978 it gained recognition as a full-fledged state. The
breakaway from Assam was not peaceful and border disputes between the
two states remain a regular affair till today.</p>
<p>In fact, since the time the administration of the state changes
hands, there has also been widespread opposition to Assamese being used
as the medium of instruction in education. In the absence of a common
native language, English and Hindi were introduced as mediums of
instruction in educational institutions and that remains to be the case
till date. “The use and development of tribal languages in education in
Arunachal Pradesh was very much restricted, though recently some
attempts are being made for the development and use of the major tribal
languages like Adi, Nocte, Apatani, Nishi, etc,” writes linguist Hans R.
Dua in his work, “Linguistic minorities in India”.</p>
<h2>The Chinese aggression and armed occupation</h2>
<p>The popularity of Hindi in the state also needs to be seen in the
context of the volatile politics of its geographical location. Arunachal
Pradesh was right at the heart of the Sino-Indian conflict of 1962. The
presence of the Indian Army in the state during the period is deemed to
be one of the first instances when Hindi was introduced here.</p>
<span class="gmail-custom-caption"><img class="gmail-wp-image-5079090 gmail-size-full" src="http://images.indianexpress.com/2018/02/sino-india-war-3.jpg" alt="Arunachal Pradesh, Narendra Modi, Hindi in Arunachal Pradesh, languages in Arunachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh language, Arunachal pradesh news, north east news, India news, Indian Express" style="display: inline;">
The presence of the Indian Army in the state during the period is
deemed to be one of the first instances when Hindi was introduced here.
(File Photo)</span>
<p>“The Army came with Hindi, they conversed in Hindi. In many ways, the
army did provide some kind of service, in terms of opening of schools,
hospitals etc. Therefore, it was imperative for the local community to
understand Hindi to have some form of interaction,” says Basir. She went
on to suggest that the Chinese aggression in the region could have also
influenced the language policy of the Indian government. “I feel that
Hindi was introduced here for the integration of the then NEFA into the
larger nation-state,” she says. However, such a suggestion is a
possibility but remains hard to verify.</p>
<p>While the exact reason behind the extensive use of Hindi among the
people of Arunachal Pradesh remains debatable, a significant fallout of
the same has been the gradual dying out of several native languages in
the state. In 2017, a survey carried out by the UNESCO reported 33
languages of the state as endangered, out of which four were enlisted as
being on the verge of extinction. In recent times, however, there have
been some efforts at documentation and preservation of local languages
of the state, which are being feared to be wiped away for want of a
common language.</p>
<blockquote><p><a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/research/international-mother-language-day-2018-ganesh-devy-indian-languages-5072487/">‘Each dying language takes away a culture system’</a></p></blockquote></div></div></div></div></div></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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