SHILLONG: The Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) has strongly condemned Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) Meghalaya unit secretary Bomsing Khongtir “for endorsing the imposition” of Vande Mataram in Meghalaya, terming it “a reflection of a deeper crisis of consciousness among certain sections of our own people.”
A statement issued by the HNLC general secretary Saiñkupar Nongtraw criticized the ABVP for welcoming the Supreme Court’s clarification that singing Vande Mataram at public events is not mandatory but encouraged. While the court noted there is no penal provision for non-singing, the HNLC said the directive remains “yet another subtle instrument of cultural imposition and psychological domination by the Indian state over non-Hindu and non-Indian nations such as Hynniewtrep.”
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“The ABVP’s selective celebration of the verdict deliberately ignores the core issue. Vande Mataram is not a neutral or inclusive symbol,” the HNLC said.
“It is rooted in religious imagery that glorifies a Hindu goddess, which stands in direct contradiction to the faith, identity, and historical consciousness of the Hynniewtrepian people, the majority of whom follow Christianity or indigenous beliefs,” the HNLC also said.
The outfit linked Khongtir’s stance to what it called intellectual dependence on external narratives.
“It further exposes how some Hynniewtrep who claim to be Indian have become intellectually dependent on external narratives rather than rooted in their own identity and history,” the HNLC added.
Reiterating its position on Meghalaya’s political status, the HNLC said, “Hynniewtrep is not India by choice, but by occupation. Therefore, any attempt to enforce Indian national symbols, whether directly or indirectly, will always be resisted.” It added that the so-called freedom struggle attached to such symbols “is irrelevant to the Hynniewtrepian historical experience.”
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The statement also criticized the ABVP’s silence on concerns raised by Christian-majority states and minorities. “Their statement is not about respect for diversity, but about advancing a singular ideological framework that undermines the very fabric of indigenous societies.”
Calling for vigilance, the HNLC urged people to guard against “cultural and ideological encroachment.”
It said, “We must preserve our identity, our faith, and our sovereignty with unwavering resolve. No song, no symbol, and no directive imposed from outside will ever define who we are.”
