Health & Family Welfare minister P Paiwang Konyak has reacted sharply to the comments on social media against a section of the legislators on usage of Nagamese during the Assembly session.
Expressing dismay over some comments that Nagamese was meant only for Konyak legislators, Paiwang pointed out that some of the current MLAs from the area were the first generation of educated people, including him, because the church and education came late (1965) to his area and that too in local (Ao) dialect. “Your great grandfathers were like us today and what we are today is what they were yesterday. Therefore, when any learned or intellectual mock at us, they are laughing at their own grandfathers and great grandfathers,” he remarked.
NPF legislators Kuzholuzo Nienu and Achumbemo Kikon backed the minister, stating that Assembly rules of business permitted use of Nagamese, English and one’s own mother-tongue.
Speaker Sharingain Longkumer stressed that people should have knowledge before commenting on anything, stating that both Nagamese and English could be use on the floor of the house. “We are all equal among equals and, on that note, we should encourage one another,” he stated.