Hindustan Times
Yes, We Do Not Have A National Language!
Let me correct myself. Hindi is not our national language. It is just an official language, which the architects of the Constitution thought would gradually replace English in 15 years time.
My colleague Vivek Sharma however says that the Constitution does admit the popularity and currency of Hindi language and hences uses the term ‘official’. That means one can talk in one’s mother tongue, promote it. But, when it comes to national communication one has to communicate in Hindi first by transalation or otherwise.” My colleague is forgetting that the Constitution has given choice of English also, the more preferred language today.
What our leaders failed to do in the post Independence climate, when all had Vande Mataram on their lips, can’t be done today. Not because of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena or Deoband, but because English is fast becoming a global language, which even China wants to learn, to progress in an era of global economy.
Also because we don’t have a national party or a leader whose voice could prevail as much in the northern belt as in the south.
For information sake , according to the most recent census of 2001, 29 ‘languages’ have more than a million native speakers, 60 have more than 100,000 and 122 have more than 10,000 native speakers.
So India has 29 prime languages, but no national language. Fine. We don’t need a link language – North and South are geographically too distant to connect. But if language is linked to conservation of cultural identity (as done by our leaders in South or West India), then it’s high time we all think about our country’s cultural identity. I am of the view that the country must have a national language. They could pick any from the most popular ones.
Let’s move forward. Why rake up issues that were settled in the 1940’s. But lets remember, the same Constitution also says “ There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the state.”
I doubt MNS respects the Constitution. And the Congress can’t be expected to take a stand now when they have lost power to regional forces in many states. Otherwise also it was the Congress that was at the helm in the post Independence period when they had buckled under pressures and decided not to have a national language.
Let’s stop debating the issue. Here is something from my travel book.
Sometimes milestones tell more than the miles. That’s what I had felt while driving down the national highway from Mumbai – the hotbed of Raj Thackeray’s anti North Indian campaign to the peaceful city of diamonds in Gujarat – Surat. Just as we crossed the Maharashtra boundaries and entered Gujarat, the lingo on the milestones changed from Hindi/English to Gujarati. I noticed it, so did the driver, incidentally a young Maharashtrian. (He despised North Indians – not because they spoke Hindi — but because they worked for fewer wages. “ Why would my boss pay me Rs 5000 when he can get a driver at Rs 3000 — these North Indians have lowered our rates) The two cities have lots in common – they are the industrial hub of the country and get highest migrants from North. The former despises them while the latter welcomes them. However unlike Mumbai, its Gujarati all the way in Surat — the billboards, the hoardings, even of private players or television shows, the restaurants, the fruit stalls. We found only ‘ Adarsh travels’, ‘Bihari chat’, ‘Benarsi pan’ and ‘Rajasthani thali’ in all the three languages – Hindi, English and Gujarati. I met the Sikh police commissioner RS Brar who spoke fluent Gujarati. “Most of the bureaucrats are non Gujjus, but they learnt the language fast – to interact with their subordinates — clear the files.” No pressure, no tension.
And if Thackerays feel the Mumbaikar’s are losing their identity then why not adopt the Gujarat pattern- their pride in the Gujju culture is very visible – it is not limited to public speeches or provocative writing —instead it is ingrained in their system. It quietly encompasses all – the internal migrants, the external migrants leaving no room for animosity. No one is spitting venom there.
(13 votes, average: 4.46 out of 5)
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Varun Mahajan Reply:
November 18th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Agree with you. 100%
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