SHILLONG: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma stressed on documentations on cultural history of tribes and other communities to ensure that people especially younger generation became aware of their roots.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the gallery Natural Resources and Housing Pattern gallery at Don Bosco Centre for Indigenous Cultures (DBCIC).
He expressed concern that due importance to culture was not given and said the cultural diversity and the knowledge of cultural history of the different tribes or communities in the state was not properly documented.
“You look at it from all the communities; you will find that justice has not been done. It is something that has bothered me a lot,” he said.
“What really worries me is apart from the museum that we have here in DBCIC, we are lacking a lot in documentation of different cultural aspects of any of the tribes. There is very less research that is being done when it comes to different cultural aspects of the different tribes of the North East, very less publication being done,” Sangma remarked.
He recalled when he was MP from Garo Hills, he ensured that the state got projects to put up research and cultural center for Garo tribe under the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC).
Sangma maintained that councils were supposed to keep up the tradition and study the culture, different cultural values of the different tribes.
“We felt district council should really look into these aspects. We are coming up with the Center for Cultural research for the Garos in Garo Hills and documentaries being made on the entire history of the Garos,” he added.
Lauding the DBCIC for taking the initiative to bring the whole North East into one roof, he expressed keenness on working closely with the DBCIC on research and other important areas.