India is a country that entertains (in the truest meaning of the word) several divides- be it religious, regional, linguistic or ethnic. Apart from the very obvious religious divide which is highlighted every other day, the linguistic divide is slowly and concerningly creeping into the minds of the masses since the past few years. The root cause of the problem can be attested as the lack of awareness amongst the people.
The Government of India has two official languages, namely English and Hindi, whereas the Republic of India has 22 official languages, that are listed in the Eighth Schedule. However, to this day, a large number of Indians feel that the country’s most spoken language, Hindi, is its national language. Moreover, political leaders, rather than trying to bridge down the gaps between various languages, further stoke the linguistic fire, by making vicious statements like ‘Hindi unites the nation in a thread of unity’ (said by the sitting HM), and that Hindi should be used as an alternative to English when people from different states communicate (again an inflammatory statement by the HM).
What is so wrong with this statement?
A fact most people don’t seem to realize or understand is that Hindi, and the South-Indian and North-Eastern languages belong to different language families (Indo-Aryan, Dravidian and Tibeto-Burman respectively). They have entirely different grammar and script, and the appeal for non-Hindi speakers to learn Hindi for the mere purpose of ‘facilitating communication’ stands worthless as English, a universal language is already the thread that weaves together different states. Politicians thrive on this very divide they create, and the public rewards them each time.
Why English?
Many argue that usage of the English language is nothing but basking in the tyranny of our colonial past, overlooking the fact that it is a language that’s neutral and does not favor any particular region. This is in addition to the fact that English is beneficial universally, and its knowledge can create several opportunities for our citizens.
Now, if Japan and Germany do pretty well in almost all the aspects even without the use of English, and they can do so while using their national language, then what’s the problem with the most spoken language of our country being used as lingua-franca? Japan and Germany are linguistically homogeneous nations. Due to the fact that the people residing in these nations are monolingual, everything- from coding, giving instructions, to learning Mathematics or various sciences in school- is easy to do in their national languages. However, in India, which is a melting pot of cultures, giving preference to even one regional language (Hindi in this case), and enforcing it as the lingua-franca would be equal to disregarding the rights of the citizens living in non-Hindi speaking states. This is because languages should thrive unrestricted in the regions/states of their nativity.
How does Hindi imposition make itself visible?
Till June 2023, the translations for parliamentary proceedings were available only in English and Hindi. So, up until 75 years after independence, a parliamentarian not having a stronghold on either of these languages would have been clueless about the proceedings! Even now, the Tableaux performance in Republic Day has the names of the all the states written in the Devanagari script, irrespective of the fact whether Hindi is the official language of the state or not.
Things as crucial as safety announcement in planes that fly from one city to another aren’t made in the official languages of the states. The question papers for various examinations conducted by the central recruiting agencies like UPSC, SSC are only printed in Hindi and English. This limits the choice of people from non-Hindi speaking states, as they can only attempt the paper in English.
How to approach this situation?
The first step towards solving this problem would be recognition. Many people are still in denial of linguistic inequality, and firmly believe these claims are made only by separatist elements who look forward to the downfall of India. This is nothing but an acute depiction of willful ignorance. Simply dismissing people as anti-nationalists for demanding the respect their language deserves and it’s right to flourish in its native place is not what an anti-Indian entity would do. In fact, all Indians, irrespective of their language should campaign for this.
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