CM Khandu bats for chapters on Arunachal Pradesh in school books

Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu today reiterated that school textbooks should contain chapters on Arunachal Pradesh, its history and culture so that students grow up knowing about their state and its past.

Speaking at the launching ceremony of the book ‘Flights of Fantasy: Heroes of 1962 Indo-China War, Abu Tani’s Speaking Tree and other articles’, authored by Group Captain (Rtd) Mohonto Pamging Pao, here today, Khandu said about 80-90% of the people are not aware of the state’s history and its rich cultural diversity.

He said it’s his government’s priority that the younger generations are made aware of their state and its cultural diversity from the very early stage.

“I have already instructed the education department to compile and introduce chapters on the state in the primary level, to begin with,” he informed.

Further, informing that the General Council Meeting of NITI Aayog is scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday) which would be chaired by the Prime Minister, Khandu assured he would urge for the inclusion of the history and culture of the North Eastern Region in the NCERT syllabus.

“If done, people from outside the region would come to know about the rich history and culture of the North East. Unfortunately, even today most of the people of other states are unaware of the North East, its contributions to the freedom struggle and its rich cultural diversity,” he said.

Lauding author Group Captain (Rtd) Mohonto Panging Pao, the Chief Minister observed that the book, which is a collection of articles on Arunachal Pradesh, the unsung heroes of the 1962 war and folklores, would go a long way in educating not only people of the state but others to on Arunachal Pradesh and the North East.

Citing the recent laying of the foundation stone of the memorial of Major Ralengnao ‘Bob’ Khathing at Tawang, Khandu said till the time of the event, 90% of the people including those in Tawang were not aware of Bob Khathing or his contributions to Arunachal Pradesh.

“There would be many unsung heroes like Major Khathing. We need to honour them and write about them so that people recognise and appreciate their contributions to our history,” he said.

The Chief Minister assured Panging Pao that the state government would procure copies of the book and distribute them to the state and district libraries. He requested the author to print at least 5,000 copies of the book exclusively for the state government.

‘Flights of Fantasy: Heroes of 1962 Indo-China War, Abu Tani’s Speaking Tree and other articles’ contain 91 articles in 10 chapters penned by Group Captain (Rtd) Mohonto Panging Pao in five years. Most of his articles had earlier been published in leading newspapers of the state.

The book release event was also attended by MLA Pasighat Kaling Moyong, renowned authors and Padmashree awardees Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi and Mamang Dai, Adi Baane Kebang President Getom Borang and members of Arunachal Pradesh Literary Society (APLS).