Language is the new hot topic in town; and politicians, celebrities and twitterati are going berserk about the issue. When the Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah stated that people from different states should speak Hindi with each other and that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English, it took little time for it to spiral into a controversy.
Tamil Nadu, which has been campaigning against the idea of a national language even before independence, took up the cause with renewed vigour. From music composer AR Rahman and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin to actors Prakash Raj and Siddharth, the whole state echoed in unison 'Stop Hindi Impostion.'
Onmanorama takes a look at the controversy, its history and the direction in which it is headed.
What sparked the row?
Amit Shah's statement that Hindi should replace English as the language that brings together different states and cultures in India did not go down well with many. Demanding a single language for communication in a country of 100 plus languages is a tough ask.
While announcing the compulsory education of Hindi in all eight north-eastern states up to Class 10, the Home Minister also said 70 per cent of the agenda of the Cabinet is prepared in Hindi.
Incidentally, this is not the first time Shah has taken up the cause of Hindi. On September 14, 2019, he tweeted:
“India is a country of different languages and every language has its own importance but it is very important to have a language which should become the identity of India in the world. If one language can unite the country today, it is the widely-spoken Hindi language.”
Music composer AR Rahman, who is known for shying away from controversies, was the first to strongly voice his opinion against the Home Minister's recent remarks.
The Oscar-winning musician tweeted the poster of a woman holding a staff with the Tamil letter 'zha' on it. The poster, titled 'Tamizhanangu', also had lines from a poem by revolutionary poet Bharathidasan. The line in Tamil stated, 'Delightful Tamil is the root of the staple crop of our rights.'
Taking a step further, Rahman spoke of the north-south divide in the country and the need for South Indian cinema to evolve at a recent event. The musician spoke of the need to cast people of colour in important roles to break stereotypes. While remarking that it was easy to divide people through art and movies, he called upon the film industry to unite and celebrate differences.
Chief Minister MK Stalin also strongly voiced his disapproval of Amit Shah's move.
“Union Home Minister Amit Shah asking to use Hindi instead of English is an act endangering the unity of India. The BJP leadership continues to work to undermine India's diversity.
Does Minister Amit Shah think that "Hindi States" are enough and not Indian States?
Use of a single language does not help unity. Desolation does not foster integrity.
You are making the same mistake over and again; but you are not going to succeed.”
Stalin tweeted with hashtag #StopHindiImposition
Is the language debate new in India?
Recently, Zomato came under fire after a customer care executive told an app user from Tamil Nadu, “For your kind information Hindi is our national language.” The food delivery app was forced to apologise soon after.
Last year, a Delhi hospital issued a circular prohibiting its nursing staff from conversing in Malayalam as many patients and colleagues were not familiar with the language. The hospital later withdrew the circular after facing severe backlash on social media for the same.
Beside singular incidents of linguistic differences paving way to heated debates in India, the issue has been taken up at the political level multiple times.
Onmanorama approached Speech Language Pathologist and linguist Dr Maya Leela to look at the utility of imposing a national language in a widely diverse linguistic country.
“From a linguistic perspective, the basis for selecting Hindi as a language of communication is unclear. If a Malayali and Tamilian are talking to each other, they'll converse in Malayalam or Tamil or a third language. Now, who chooses the third language. The question of imposition comes here. Linguistically there is no basis for choosing Hindi. Politically, English is a more pragmatic choice compared to Hindi as it has more international acceptance,” Dr Maya said.
A peek into the history
The protest against the imposition of Hindi began as early as 1937 when the Indian National Congress attempted to teach Hindi in the Madras Presidency. The protests against this lasted three years.
When the Constituent Assembly met for the first time in December 1946, after much debate it was decided that the proceedings of the House would be conducted in Hindustani and English.
And when it came to deciding a common language for the newly formed republic, the constituent assembly was at its wit's end.
KM Munshi and Gopalaswami Ayyangar derived a formula that was accepted by both proponents and opponents of Hindi. For starters, there was no national language. It proposed that Hindi in the Devanagari script would be the “official language of the Union” and that English would continue to be used for all official purposes for fifteen years from the date of the Constitution, which could be extended by the Parliament.
This eventually led to the drafting of Article 343 and Schedule 8 in the Constitution. The Constitution also allowed Indian States the right to adopt any official language of choice for correspondence. However, Article 351 of the Indian Constitution states that it is the government’s duty to promote the spread of Hindi, so that it serves as a way to express India’s composite culture.
When the deadline outlined by the Constitution expired, a movement against the imposition of Hindi emerged in the south.
Tamil Nadu witnessed protests, including strikes, hartals and self-immolations at that time. During the two weeks of protests, around 70 people were killed.
Keeping in mind the protests, the Government of India enacted Official Language Act in 1963 which provided for continued use of English alongside Hindi indefinitely.
Is Hindi language of the majority?
According to the 2011 Census data, Hindi is spoken by 43.6% of the population and it was the fastest growing language in India with 6% growth in the preceding decade.
But the Census data includes over 50 mother tongues and dialects such as Bhojpuri, Chhattisgarhi, Rajasthani and Haryanvi under Hindi making it an inadequate representation of the language.
According to Census data, while languages like Kashmiri, Gujarati, Manipuri and Bengali showed growth in the number of speakers, southern languages like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam decreased gradually.
Dr Maya Leela remarks that it is unfair on the larger population to adopt Hindi as a medium of communication.
“Pure Hindi as a form of communication is unacceptable to even the Hindi-speaking population. There's no reason why the southern states should accept the language as a mode of communication in this context,” she said.
On an educational perspective, is there a need for national language?
“If an MBBS student from Kerala is writing his/her exam in Malayalam, the student would know the technical terms in English. But when it comes to learning the concepts it would be best if they can learn it in the regional language,” Dr Maya says.
“This will eliminate the stress of learning a language. The doctor should be more proficient in the concept as opposed to the language. A doctor can always learn the language for communication after he reaches his workplace. Medical professionals from Kerala can practice in Germany only after being proficient in German,” she added.
The New Education Policy (NEP) of the Union government suggested a three-language formula of learning with compulsory education of Hindi
till 8th standard.
According to Dr Maya, the three-language formula is acceptable as long as they're taught the right way.
“Kids do not have a problem in learning languages. It is not the number of languages but the way they're taught that is the problem. A language is learnt through exposure and use, but not through rote learning of grammar,” she says.