‘South India should take inspiration from Arunachal Pradesh': Chum Darang's comment about Hindi starts online discussion

Mint

25-07-2025

Chum Darang's comment about Hindi has sparked talks on social media. In a YouTube chat with Bharti Singh and Harsh Limbachiyaa, she explained the reason behind the popularity of Hindi in Arunachal Pradesh.
The north-eastern Indian state has over 100 tribes, each with its own language. So, Hindi becomes the common language that helps people talk to each other. According to her, most people in her state understand and speak Hindi well.
'Hindi is our common language. That's why my Hindi is decent, compared to others,' she said.
In the same interview, she asked for inclusivity for north-eastern people.
'We look different. But, if you don't include us, how will you know about us? Things are changing. Let's give it some time,' she said.
The clip about the use of Hindi in the North East as a bridge for communication was shared on Reddit. Even though the interview was released on YouTube in February, the Reddit post started various discussions.
An extra caption was added in the Reddit clip. It says, 'South India should take inspiration from Arunachal Pradesh.'
Reddit users commented on the issue.
'Language should unite us, but instead it's dividing. I don't know how! We Indians are a different breed, I guess!'
One of them pointed out why it's not the same in South India as in Arunachal Pradesh.
'The equivalence might not hold true for the South since the majority state language is the same, unlike Naga tribes or Arunachal. If you speak in broken Hindi/English in Karnataka or Andhra, I find that people tend to respond in Hindi,' the user wrote while claiming that the most of the issues seen on social media were magnified and politically-induced.
'It won't be the same for states in the South. They've their own language, the whole state. That's why Hindi doesn't work there, just like it doesn't work in any other states of NE,' agreed another user.
In April, the Maharashtra government made Hindi compulsory as a third language in classes 1 to 5 across English and Marathi medium schools.
This triggered protests, political opposition and backlash from educationists. They saw it as a threat to Marathi identity and a push for the BJP's 'Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan' agenda.
Social media is now crowded with videos of people being harassed for not speaking Marathi in Maharashtra. The state's capital is Mumbai, the home of the Hindi movie industry, where Chum works.
Chum Darang represented India at Miss Earth India 2016 and Miss Asia World 2017. She is known for her roles in films like Badhai Do and Gangubai Kathiawadi. She gained widespread recognition as a strong contestant on Bigg Boss 18, finishing in the top 5.
Her latest work is an Amazon Prime Video web series, Khauf. The OTT release features Monika Panwar, Rajat Kapoor, Abhishek Chauhan and Geetanjali Kulkarni among others. The horror web series has received positive reviews.