Shillong, Oct 23: A remark by Voice of the People’s Party (VPP) MDC and Executive Member in charge of Information & Technology and Land Development, Powel Sohkhlet, during Wednesday’s KHADC session has drawn attention after he claimed that Hindi is the national language of India.
Sohkhlet made the statement while defending his fellow party colleague and EM Seiborlang Warbah, who had quoted a famous Bollywood dialogue from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, suggesting that “something is going on behind the scenes” in relation to the issue of professional tax collection from local labourers.
Sohkhlet, a seasoned journalist with decades of experience in a Khasi newspaper, appeared to overlook that India has no national language. Hindi, along with English, is only designated as an official language for communication at the central government level.
The remark comes as a surprise, considering that the VPP had staged a walkout from the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly in March 2023 to protest Governor Phagu Chauhan’s address delivered in Hindi.
The party had maintained then that English is the official language of the Assembly and that Hindi was not widely understood in Meghalaya.
