Says Arunachal CM Pema Khandu Amid Language Row News24 –

As the language debate intensified across India, Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu has stated that Hindi is a language that binds, and that there is no harm in learning Hindi.

Referring to Hindi as a connecting language in Arunachal where each tribe has its own dialect and language, Khandu said that there is no harm in learning the language.

“Hindi has been in the school curriculum ever since education came to his state, and there is no problem in learning it,” Khandu told PTI.

“If I speak in my own dialect, my own language, people from another tribe will not understand. That’s why everyone speaks Hindi. There will certainly be grammatical mistakes, but even if you go to a village, all the villagers will understand and speak Hindi. We speak Hindi in election campaigns and even in the Assembly,” CM Khandu added.

There are 26 main tribes and over 100 sub-tribes, so the state speaks in different languages. But in terms of day-to-day interaction, from informal talking in the villages to formal discussions in the legislative Assembly, Hindi tallies as Preeminent language, he also said.

The Chief Minister underlined the state’s strategic importance, the area of operations of security forces and organisations like the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) are populated. The majority of its personnel speak Hindi, which contributes to the increased usage across Arunachal.

“There is also the Border Roads Organisation. So there are various other mediums through which we picked up Hindi quickly,” he said.

The remarks of Chief Minister Khandu come at a time when some southern states and Maharashtra are experiencing backlash against the Hindi language.

Arunachal Pradesh CM On Dalai Lama’s Successor

Meanwhile, CM Khandu remarked the next Dalai Lama will be from a free and democratic country and definitely not from China.

However, he noted the process to select the next Dalai Lama doesn’t happen until an incumbent dies and hoped and prayed the 14th Dalai Lama will live at least an other 40 years.

“In fact, as I said, His Holiness’ health is very good. And this time too — on the occasion of his 90th birthday celebration — His Holiness said that he will live to be around 130 years old. So we all pray and I am very hopeful that he will live to be 130,” Khandu said in an interview with PTI Videos on Tuesday.