From Our Correspondent
JOWAI, Jan 29: Prominent persons and different leaders of religious and social organisations have resented the “intentional exclusion” of Jaintia language from the lyrics of Meghalaya’s State Anthem.
Activist HH Mohrmen said the government erred grossly in keeping Jaintia, a language representing a community with a rich history, out of the anthem. The Jaintia language must be included in the anthem because the Jaintias have coexisted with two other communities within the same geographical boundary.
C Sungoh, a leader of the Movement of Change, Jaintia Hills conveyed disappointment over the “deliberate inclusion of only the Khasi and Garo languages” in the State Anthem. An ethnic group with an autonomous district council named after it should not have been ignored, he said.
Riquima Laloo, the Waheh Shnong of Panaliar and general secretary of Synjuk ki Waheh Shnong Jowai, said no song can be an anthem for Meghalaya if the Jaintia language is not given its rightful place.
K Kyndaid, a renowned senior citizen, said the Garo, Khasi, and Jaintia communities have been the three major tribes of present-day Meghalaya since British rule, and former Chief Minister Mukul M Sangma had formally notified the three communities.
“Not including the Jaintia language in the State Anthem is total disrespect to the Jaintia people,” he said.
MLAs across the Jaintia Hills have already expressed their displeasure over the omission of the Jaintia language from the State Anthem.
“The Jaintias are one of the three major tribes of Meghalaya. Although our language has not been recognised, it should not have been deprived,” Cabinet Minister Kyrmen Shylla said recently.
