Why DMK and Tamil Nadu are seeing red over recommendations by Amit Shah-led language panel

The language wars are set to continue with Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin warning the Centre against the ‘imposition’ of Hindi.

Stalin’s letter came in the wake of a parliamentary committee headed by Amit Shah recommended that Hindi be compulsorily made the medium of instruction in all technical and non-technical educational institutions, including central universities.

“India has unity in diversity and should treat all languages equally. We should come to a level where all languages are official languages. Do not force another language war on us by imposing Hindi. We urge the prime minister and government to stop Hindi imposition and save India’s unity,” the letter read, as per Times Now.

This comes a day after NDTV quoted Stalin as saying: “Projecting Hindi speakers alone as Indian citizens and others as second-class citizens reeks of divide-and-rule. The government ought to treat all Eighth Schedule languages as official languages, taking into account the development of science and technology.”

Stalin on Monday tweeted, “The rigorous thrust by the Union BJP government for Hindi imposition, negating the diversity of India is happening at an alarming pace. The proposals made in the 11th volume of the report of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language are a direct onslaught on India’s soul.”

Let’s take a closer look at the committee, its recommendations and why DMK and Stalin are seeing red:

The committee and its report

As per The Federal, the committee was set up in 1976 under the Official Language Act, 1963. It comprises 30 members of Parliament – 20 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha. It reviews the progress made in the use of Hindi for official purposes and submits a report making recommendations to the president.

This committee submits a report every five years. However, it has submitted two reports over the past three years.

The committee has in its 11th report presented to President Droupadi Murmu last month recommended that English be the medium of instruction only where it is absolutely necessary and gradually be replaced by Hindi, as per New Indian Express.

It is left to the discretion of the president as to whether or not to accept a report.

“Use of Hindi as medium of instruction and other activities should be Hindi in all technical and non-technical institutions in the country and use of English should be made optional,” the committee has recommended.

“In many recruitment examinations, Hindi medium option is not available and English-language question paper is compulsorily included. In this situation, the candidate gives preference to English over Hindi. Therefore, mandatory English-language question papers should be discontinued and Hindi options be given… requisite knowledge of Hindi for the selection of employees should be ensured and in the recruitment examinations, the question paper of Hindi should mandatorily be included in place of English,” the report stated.

Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of management (IIMs), and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) are technical education institutions under the Centre, while Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs), Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVs) and central universities are examples of non-technical institutes.

BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab, who is the deputy chairman of the committee, told PTI that the committee has framed the recommendations as per the new National Education Policy which suggested that the medium of instruction should either be official or regional languages.

The committee has suggested that Hindi should be given a respectable place in ‘A’ category states and it should be used 100 per cent.

All states and Union territories are divided in three groups (regions) on the basis of progressive usage of Hindi.

Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Andaman and Nicobar Islands are in category ‘A’; Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, and the Union territories of Chandigarh, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli are in category ‘B’; and the rest of India is categorised as ‘C’.

Mahtab said in higher education institutions such as Banaras Hindu University, Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University, Hindi is being used only 20-30 per cent, whereas it should be used 100 per cent.

English is a foreign language and we should do away with this colonial practice, he said.

Similar sentiment was also expressed by BJP member Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who is convenor of the second sub-committee.

She said English is an alien language and we want it to be eliminated and it should be replaced by Hindi and other regional languages.

The recommendations are as per the New Education Policy which has emphasised on imparting education in regional and Hindi languages equally, she told PTI.

Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Gupta said the committee recommended that the medium of instruction in ‘A’ category or Hindi-speaking states should be Hindi and in the rest of the states, it should be in the respective local languages.

Other recommendations

The end of compulsory English language question paper in the recruitment examinations and adequate arrangement for Hindi translation in the orders of the high courts in Hindi speaking states are among over 100 recommendations made by the committee in its latest report.

The panel noted that officers and employees in the central government who deliberately don’t work in Hindi in Hindi-speaking states should be warned and if they don’t perform despite warning, it should be reflected in their Annual Performance Assessment Report (APAR).

Other recommendations include communication by central government offices, ministries or departments, such as letters, faxes, and emails, should take place in Hindi or local languages, simple and easy language should be used in official work and invitation letters, speeches, and moderation for any events organised by the central government should all be in Hindi or local languages.

It also recommended that Hindi  be made one of the official languages of the United Nations.

“A total of 193 countries are members of the United Nations but how many countries use foreign languages as official language?” Mahtab asked.

The BJD leader said the use of Hindi in technical organisations like the ISRO or DRDO and the Ministry of Home Affairs is 100 per cent.

There are more than 12 volumes of the technical dictionary of Hindi.

Why are DMK and Stalin seeing red?

The DMK, earlier helmed by Stalin’s father M Karunanidhi were in the forefront of the anti-Hindi-imposition protests in the South over 50 years ago, as per NDTV.

The debate around ‘Hindi imposition’ has been ongoing for decades.

As this Firstpost piece notes, “As far back as 1937, there were violent protests in Madras (Tamil Nadu) when the Congress tried to make Hindi compulsory. Another agitation took place in 1965 when students led processions and there was a spate of self-immolations.”

“From 1946 to 1950, there were sporadic agitations against Hindi by the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) and Periyar. Whenever the government introduced Hindi as a compulsory language in schools, anti-Hindi protests erupted and succeeded in stopping the move. The largest anti-Hindi imposition agitations in this period occurred from 1948 to 1950. After India’s Independence in 1947, the Congress government at the Centre urged all states to make Hindi compulsory in schools. Eventually, the government made Hindi teaching optional in 1950. Students who did not want to learn Hindi were allowed to participate in other school activities during Hindi classes.”

“In 1987, anti-Hindi protests led to violence, demonstrations and arrests of over 20,000 people. Politicians were suspended from the state legislature for burning the Constitution that confers official status on Hindi.”

This furore comes in the backdrop of leaders of southern states including ex-Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleging that the language is being ‘imposed’ on non-Hindi speaking states.

In Kerala, the ruling CPM has also objected to this report, saying that it runs contrary to the spirit of the Constitution and the country’s linguistic diversity, Times Now reported_._

Senior Left leader and former state finance minister TM Thomas Isaac told the outlet the BJP does not believe in the country’s diversity.

“We strongly oppose these efforts which stem from the RSS conception of one nation, one culture, one language. It runs contrary to the spirit of the Indian Constitution and our country’s linguistic diversity,” the party tweeted.

In April, Siddaramaiah, responding to Ajay Devgn’s Twitter spat with Kannada actor Kiccha Sudeepa, tweeted:

Hindi was never & will never be our National Language.

It is the duty of every Indian to respect linguistic diversity of our Country.

Each language has its own rich history for its people to be proud of.

I am proud to be a Kannadiga!! https://t.co/SmT2gsfkgO

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 27, 2022

With inputs from agencies

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