Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Friday dedicated to the people the newly-established Tribal Cultural Centre at Mwya village under Deed circle of Lower Subansiri district.
Expressing belief that the cultural center would pave the way for preservation of the indigenous identity of the people of the area, he reiterated that preservation of cultural identity of the indigenous tribes of the state is of utmost importance.
While citing that most of the developed countries of the world were inhabited by indigenous communities at the beginning, which disappeared over the years owing to rapid globalization, Khandu said, “We are lucky to still being rooted to our cultural identity.
But unless we practice and pass on our heritage to our next generation, our indigenous identities too would wane away slowly,” he observed.
In his address to the gathering, Khandu advocated that no matter which religious faith they believe in, the indigenous people of the state should preserve their cultural identity passed down by their ancestors. And to do it, he said, indigenous languages should be widely spoken and indigenous festivals celebrated with the same traditional fervor.
He said that taking cognizance of the threat to indigenous communities across the world, he conceptualized the Department of Indigenous Affairs in 2017 so that the Government could support preservation of cultural identities of the 26 major tribes and 100-plus sub-tribes of the state.
“…Arunachal Pradesh is a unique state in terms of indigenous practices as ours is a 100 percent tribal state. Our cultural uniqueness is our identity. We have witnessed globally the disappearance of indigenous culture therefore it is up to us – the indigenous communities – to think about ourselves,” Khandu said.
He called for ‘brainstorming’ at the community level on why people are moving away from their indigenous faiths but without putting the blame on anyone.
Present on the occasion were Home Minister Bamang Felix, Education Minister Taba Tedir, MLAs B R Wahge and Zingnu Namchoom, Indigenous Faith and Cultural Society of Arunachal Pradesh (IFCSAP) president Katung Wahge, Arunachal Indigenous Tribes Forum (AITF) president BengiaTolum, officials and public leaders of the area.
