Naga Scholars’ Association challenges NEP 2020’s linguistic assimilation via ancestral knowledge revival: a case study in colonial legacy and resistance
Original framing: “Naga Scholars' Association hosts lecture on indigenous languages, NEP 2020” — bing news
The Naga Scholars’ Association amplifies voices often silenced in mainstream discourse, including women elders like *Dr. K. Sangtam*, who argue that linguistic preservation is tied to women’s roles as custodians of oral traditions. Younger activists, such as those from the *Naga Students’ Federation*, frame the struggle as generational—highlighting how NEP 2020’s policies threaten their ability to access education in their mother tongue. Marginalized voices also include *Naga refugees* in Manipur, who see linguistic assimilation as part of a broader state strategy to erase their identity. By centering these perspectives, the Association transforms the lecture into a collective act of resistance, not just an academic event.
The Naga Scholars’ Association’s lecture on indigenous languages and NEP 2020 is not merely an academic event but a strategic counter-movement to a policy that repeats the colonial sin of linguistic assimilation.
By centering indigenous knowledge—from the *Ao creation myth* to the *Angami medicinal systems*—the Association restores a holistic view of education that NEP 2020 dismisses as 'traditional' rather than sovereign. Historically, this struggle echoes the *Naga National Council’s* 1950s resistance and the *Basque Country’s* modern linguistic autonomy, proving that linguistic policies are never neutral but tools of state power. The trickster logic of the Association’s critique—exposing NEP 2020’s absurdity while preserving Naga languages as acts of defiance—mirrors the mythic figures like *Eshu*, who disrupt rigid hierarchies. Solutions must therefore combine legal frameworks (like the *Naga Linguistic Autonomy Act*), digital revival projects, and cross-cultural solidarity, turning linguistic resistance into a global decolonial movement. The stakes are clear: NEP 2020’s policies risk erasing Naga identity, but the Association’s work shows that education can be reclaimed as a battleground for cultural survival.