Meghalaya Congress MLA and former Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh walked out of the Meghalaya State Legislative Assembly on the first day of the Assembly Session of the 10th Meghalaya Assembly on Friday as a mark of protest against State Governor Ganga Prasad delivering his address in the House in Hindi language instead of English.
Stating about her unhappiness at the Governor addressing the House in Hindi, which she could not understand, Lyngdoh on his Twitter handle on Friday stated, “I left because Hon’ble Governor should’ve followed precedence to address in English. I didn’t understand what he was saying. Arrangements for translation to our headphones weren’t made. Hon’ble Governor didn’t follow the provided text, skipped paragraphs as well.”
However, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma speaking in favour of the Governor reportedly said “it is the prerogative of the Governor”.
It may be mentioned that English is the official language in Meghalaya Assembly.
Former Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh won recently Assembly polls for the third consecutive term from East Shillong constituency.
Lyngdoh reportedly said the Governor had disrespected the sentiments of the people of Meghalaya by speaking in Hindi instead of English.
Ampareen Lyngdoh told the media, “Democracy by its nature promotes mutual respect. I had to put my foot down when the Governor went on speaking in Hindi for 7-8 minutes, skipping paragraphs and even going to the extent of calling Garo Hills as ‘Gora Hills’. We don’t have any such place in Meghalaya.”
The former Congress Minister also stated that by speaking in Hindi, Meghalaya Governor Prasad was “actually oppressing us”. Terming Prasad a ‘learned man’, Ampareen stated that the Governor should have respected the choice of language in the Assembly.
“If he had to make statements in a language other than the official language, he should have given a notice to the speaker and followed the process,” the East Shillong MLA added.
The first Budget Session of the Meghalaya Assembly during the six-party coalition government under the leadership of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma began on Friday.