The Assam Sahitya Sabha (ASS) has raised objection to the proposal of the government to make Hindi a compulsory subject till class 10 in the Northeast states. 

The Assam Sahitya Sabha has, in fact, asked the government to focus on conserving and promoting indigenous languages of the Northeast. 

Secretary general of Assam Sahitya Sabha – Jadav Chandra Sharma said if Hindi is made compulsory, the future of indigenous languages including Assamese would be in danger. 

He added that the Assam Sahitya Sabha have been pushing the state government for inclusion of Assamese language in the curriculum of central board of secondary education (CBSE) and English medium schools, but no progress has been made in this regard thus far. 

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Notably, the opposition parties in Assam have been criticising the central government for announcing that all the eight states in the Northeast have agreed to make Hindi a compulsory subject till class 10. 

The opposition parties in Assam have called the move of the central government a “step towards cultural imperialism”. 

Terming the move as against the interests of the people of the Northeast, the opposition parties in Assam including the Congress and the AJP demanded withdrawal of the decision. 

Union home minister Amit Shah, on April 7, stated that all the states in Northeast have agreed to make Hindi compulsory in schools up to Class 10.