This Hindi – and Hindi only – advice is flawed

The 11th volume of the Official Language Committee report submitted to the President of India on 9 September 2022 did not show much interest in the media. Barring the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, no other political leader reacted to the recommendations made.

a special situation

As reported in a section of the print media, the main recommendations are that Hindi should replace English as the language of examinations for government recruitment; Hindi should be the only medium of instruction in Kendriya Vidyalayas, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Central Universities; Propagation of Hindi etc. should be constitutionally binding on the state governments. The Official Language Committee is a statutory committee constituted under section 4 of the Official Languages ​​Act, 1963. Its duty is to review the progress made in the use of Hindi for the official. Objects of the Union and to submit a report to the President. The Act makes it mandatory for the President to issue directions “in whole or in part of the report” (Section 4(4)). Thus it can be seen that the recommendations of the Committee need to be acted upon.

It is the special status of the recommendations of this committee which is important for the understanding of the official language policy in India. Recommendations have an essential character as is evident from the words “according to” (Section 4(4)).

Article 343 of the Constitution declares that Hindi in Devanagari script shall be the official language of the Union. It is well known that there was a heated debate on the question of official language in the Constituent Assembly. The chapter on ‘Official Language’ in the Constitution took its final shape as a result of the compromises made by the heroes of diverse faiths. Finally, Hindi was declared as the official language of the Union and it was also provided that the English language would continue for 15 years after the commencement of the Constitution. It was also provided that, if necessary, Parliament could by law provide that English would continue after a period of 15 years. Accordingly, Parliament enacted the Official Languages ​​Act in 1963, which provided for the continuation of English as the official language along with Hindi for the official purposes of the Union and for the conduct of business in the Parliament.

The reported recommendations of the Official Language Committee pose a problem for the President as the committee says that Hindi should completely replace English as the medium of instruction in Central Universities, IIMs, IITs etc. The approval of the Committee is to review the progress made in the use of Hindi for the official purposes of the Union and to report thereon to the President. Obviously the committee is not mandated to recommend the medium of instruction in universities and professional institutions. Further, since Parliament has declared by law that English will continue along with Hindi, a statutory committee constituted under the same Act has no authority to recommend the discontinuation of English.

Results in non-Hindi states

India has seen a lot of emotional upheaval, violent protests and sacrifices in the southern parts of the country in the 1960s, as a result of the then central government’s attempt to oust English and replace it with Hindi. Therefore, the Parliament also had to make provisions for the continuation of the English language to pacify the turbulent sentiments in the southern region. The provision allowing English to be used indefinitely helped quell the flames. No great research is needed to understand that the issue of language has the potential to divide people emotionally. It is not a question of willingness or unwillingness of the people of any region to learn Hindi. The issues are more complex. An example. Once Hindi replaces English, the language used in the examination for recruitment to the All India Services will be Hindi alone.

Therefore, candidates from non-Hindi states, especially the South, will face a major disadvantage as compared to their mother tongue Hindi. The result would be the gradual elimination of non-Hindi region candidates from the All India Services. The framers of the Constitution anticipated this problem, which is why the Constitution provides in Article 344(3) that the Commission on Official Languages ​​should be “with respect to the equitable claims and interests of persons belonging to non-Hindi speaking areas with respect to the public”. I should have due respect”. Services”.

There are two major groups of languages ​​in India – the Indo-European language group and the Dravidian language group. Hindi is of the former and Tamil (more ancient than Sanskrit) is of the latter. The Dravidian group has rich literature in all the major languages, i.e. Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. However, it was the English that brought the northern and southern regions together. Maulana Azad said in the Constituent Assembly: “We have to accept that North and South are two different parts as far as language is concerned. The union of North and South has been possible only through English. If we leave English today, this linguistic relationship will end.

The idea of ​​an official language for the Sangh is a product of the freedom struggle that promoted Hindustani, a mixture of Hindi and Urdu. Later, when the constitution was framed, the idea of ​​Hindustani was dropped and Hindi in Devanagari script was adopted as the sole official language. In a country where there are two major language groups, the idea of ​​one official language may not go far in promoting the unity of the people. This may, in the long run, lead to a serious imbalance in the regional representation in the personnel structure of the All India Services as well as the Central Government.

A changing world needs the use of English

Furthermore, since the southern states cannot decide who will rule from Delhi and influence the decision-making of the union, it is even more necessary to address the concerns of the people of the region because of the language. Hindi is a simple and polite language which has been given a proper place as the official language of the Union. While doing so, the framers of the Constitution took care that the use of English along with Hindi continued as the official language. He left it to Parliament to decide the future of the English, which, through a legislative measure, decided to continue with the English indefinitely. The mood of the Constituent Assembly was largely influenced by the freedom struggle, the nationalist fervor it generated and, above all, Gandhiji’s strong advocacy of a national language for the country. This mood gradually changed as India began to interact with the world. Therefore, by the 1960s, the political class realized that English was important in acquiring knowledge in science and technology as well as in other areas of human activity. Therefore, Parliament decided to continue with English.

The overwhelming opinion in the South is that English should be continued as one of the official languages. Today, the union’s two official languages ​​are Hindi and English – as in Canada, which has English and French as its official languages. Under these circumstances, policy makers should seriously think about constitutionally providing that Hindi and English should be the official languages ​​of the Union. We love Hindi and all other Indian languages. Therefore, all efforts should be made to ensure their natural development so that they are able to meet the requirements of modern science and technology. Also we need English to better understand science and the world around us and beyond.

PDT Acharya is former Secretary General of Lok Sabha