SHILLONG:
Voice of the People Party (VPP) chief and Nongkrem MLA Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit on Monday termed Governor Phagu Chauhan’s address on the first day of the budget session in Hindi language an insult to the people of Meghalaya.
Speaking to media persons after staging a walkout following the decision of Speaker Thomas Sangma to allow the address to continue in Hindi, Basaiawmoit said that according to the rules, the address should be delivered in English as Meghalaya is a non-Hindi speaking state.
“We are not expecting the government of India to send a governor who cannot speak English because he cannot communicate with us. This is an insult to us. Let us not forget the toil and sweat of our leaders; the statehood movement began due to the attempt of the Assam government to impose of Assamese language on the indigenous tribes of these hills (sic),” he said.
Asserting that the state should not allow this kind of imposition from Delhi, the VPP chief said that the written version of the address may have been translated into English, “but the rules clearly stated that English must be used while addressing the house.”
“If they feel that the translated version was already given, then what is the point of addressing the house. Let him (Governor) not come to the assembly. We walked out because we don’t want to be part of any of this,” Basaiawmoit added.
He further added that this is not the tradition that should be allowed to continue in the floor of the house. “They should respect the majority,” he said.