‘Include N-E in NCERT books’
After a long campaign by students, academics and others from the Northeast on social media demanding the inclusion of a chapter on the region — its geography, culture, ethnicity and lifestyle of people — in NCERT textbooks, former MP and present MLA from Arunachal Pradesh Ninong Ering has written a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah and education minister R.P. Nishank, pleading for the inclusion of Northeast in the NCERT books to avoid repeated racial slurs against north-easterners by a section of the mainlanders.
Ering wrote, “Inclusion of Northeast India in CBSE and other state boards — the one step can lead to elimination of frequent cases of racial discrimination against us, the world needs to know about us and learn about our history, geography, culture and other aspects.”
A campaign was launched on Twitter by students, academics and others from the Northeast demanding the inclusion of a chapter on the region — its geography, culture, ethnicity and lifestyle of people — in NCERT textbooks.
The demand followed repeated racist remarks against north-easterners by a section of the mainlanders. They believe such behaviour can be checked by educating students about the Northeast.
The latest racist remarks were directed against former Union minister and sitting Arunachal Pradesh MLA, Ninong Ering. In a video posted on YouTube, one
Paras Singh had described the Congress MLA as “non-Indian”.
He ostensibly also claimed that the “state (Arunachal) is a part of China”. After the comments triggered outrage in the Northeast, Singh was arrested by the police.
Samujjal Bhattacharyya, an advisor to North East Students’ Organisation, wrote: “Ignorant mainlanders seem to be unaware of our existence as an inextricable part of India. Sensitise students by adding #AChapterForNE to begin with; for #NortheastMatters. The land of rich heritage, exotic flora/fauna and impeccable culture, N-E is more than a resource frontier alone.”
One Kabyashree Kalita from Assam wrote, “Mughals couldn’t invade Assam 17 times. Northeast is the only part of India that the Mughals failed to conquer during their reign for over two centuries. Don’t you think #ASSAM #AHOMS #NE deserves a chapter in NCERT?”
Another user, Chophika Sumi from Nagaland, tweeted, “We are only asserting our rights as Indians. Please hear us out.”
“Our geography, ethnicity, culture and way of life need a place in NCERT textbooks,” tweeted Amar Sangno, a senior journalist from Arunachal.
Asmita Bharadwaj, who is the vice-president of Northeast Students’ Union of Vadodara, Gujarat, said that the incident involving Mr Ering and years of discrimination against people from the Northeast were the reasons behind the Twitter campaign.