Piyong Temjen Jamir, Padma Shri 2018
Piyong Temjen Jamir hailed from Longsa Village in Mokokchung district. Jamir was regarded as a Hindi scholar and a noted teacher in Nagaland, who taught more than 2, 000 students to become Hindi teachers in Nagaland.
Ignored by his own people, Piyong Temjen Jamir, the lone single-minded crusader of Hindi language in Nagaland, probably wants to send a message to his critics that his identity as a Naga has not been compromised by his love for the Hindi – a language not favored for long in Nagaland as well as many parts of northeast India during the peak of separatist movements. Now 86, Jamir’s dedication to promotion of Hindi and also social service has been acknowledged with 14 awards over the past few decades.
Jamir’s tryst with Hindi began in 1963 when he left his native place to learn the language at Wardha in Maharashtra. After completing the course in Hindi at Wardha, he stayed back for two more years to acquire more knowledge of the language. Jamir stayed at Wardha for seven long years, whereas people could not stay there for even a year due to the extreme heat. He was resolute and wanted to learn to speak Hindi properly he said.
Back to his state again, Jamir worked as an instructor in the Hindi Training College, originally established as a branch of the Wardha institute in 1962 in Dimapur as Rashtra Bhasha Vidyalaya. Frustrated by the disregard for the language among the locals, he resigned from the college in 1982 and contested in the state assembly election but was unsuccessful.
In 1984, the Wardha institute withdrew its sponsorship of its branch in Dimapur and the then-in charge of the college coaxed Jamir, who was also in the managing board of the institute, to take over the institution as its owner. In 1988, resolute to revive the college, he shifted location and changed the name to Rashtra Bhasha Hindi Training Institute.
Jamir had also taken his young wife, Atula, to Wardha to train her in Hindi and she became his pillar throughout the days of struggle. Jamir recalls how his wife faced off the undergrounds when they threatened him.
Jamir says promoting Hindi has also helped him serve the society in many ways, including get local youths employed. One of his first students was a girl whose husband had left her and their kids. She liked the language. Jamir sent his wife to teach her at home and helped her pass her exams. Then she got the post of Hindi teacher in her village. As the number of students grew, Jamir made trips to the state education directorate to seek jobs for students of his institute who had completed the course. Jamir passed away in 17 September 2018.