Anirban Choudhury
(eternalflamenew@gmail.com)
The spat between the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government over the former’s purported move to shove Hindi down the throat of the southern state, allegedly through the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, has once again laid bare one of the nation’s major fault lines – the linguistic divide. It needs no iteration that while enriching the country’s cultural mosaic, language (along with caste, ethnicity and religion) has also added to the political conundrum, often with deadly consequences. The violent language movements in the 1950s-60s in many parts of the country, particularly in the southern states, against the imposition of Hindi and in the name of upholding regional languages, stand as a testimony to this ugly reality. And not that the situation had changed for the better — there are often reports of how non-natives face harassment from natives over the issue of language in states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, etc. Fuelled by political expediency, discord over language is a festering wound that just refuses to heal with time. Strong linguistic identity, demand for its recognition and perceived threat to native languages have for long fuelled such language wars in many parts of the country.
Actually, strong linguistic identity is something peculiar not just to India, but the entire subcontinent. The creation of Bangladesh, which was once part of Pakistan, is a perfect example of how language triumphed over religion, thereby debunking the two-nation theory. The observation of the “International Mother Language Day” at the initiative of Bangladesh since 2000 to commemorate the killing of students at the University of Dhaka on February 21, 1952, by Pakistani forces for protesting against the imposition of Urdu by Islamabad, serves as a reminder of how strongly the people connect with their language.
Needless to say, the language movements have historically stemmed from the need for a lingua franca for communication among people of different native language speakers. However, this often resulted in disasters as the politically dominant groups sought to impose their language over other linguistic groups, leading to disquiet among other communities, ultimately resulting in what can be called a lingua franca fracas. Imposition of Urdu across Pakistan ultimately proved costly for Islamabad, while a similar move to impose Hindi in India resulted in bloodshed in the 1950s. However, the policymakers in Delhi were quick enough to realise the folly and adopted a two-language formula — English and Hindi have since been recognised as two official languages, and 22 others as scheduled languages.
However, despite this, states continued to witness bitter wrangling within over language. If the reorganisation of the states in 1956 on linguistic lines wasn’t enough, more states had to be carved out subsequently from the existing ones over the language row. Even now, language wars continue unabated in some states. The turn of events in Assam could serve as a reminder of how discord over language could rupture a social fabric forever. To recall, the state witnessed a popular language movement in the 1960s as people in the Brahmaputra Valley demanded Assamese as the sole official language and medium of instruction in educational institutions. There was a historical context to it. Since Bengali was promoted as an official language in the state in the 19th century by the British, there was a perceived threat to Assamese language and culture. However, the language movement in the Brahmaputra Valley led to a chain of events that pushed the state almost to the brink. Opposing the imposition of Assamese, the predominantly Bengali-speaking people in the Barak Valley began a counter movement, while tribal groups demanded recognition of their languages and even separation. This took a bloody toll and fractured the fragile social fabric of the state forever by accentuating the ethnic and linguistic divides. Dispur has, however, been wise enough to recognise English, Hindi, Bengali and Bodo as official languages of Assam, besides Assamese, while Manipuri has been made the associate official language in certain parts of the state.
Actually, as linguistic identity is very strong, leaders and parties in the country have only been too happy to wade into the troubled waters and fan the flames of discord. And, just like the caste, ethnicity and religion, the language issue too has served as perfect ammo for leaders and parties to deflect public attention from more pressing issues of governance, law and order, economic downturn, etc. The latest face-off between the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government over the implementation of NEP’s three-language formula is a perfect example in this regard. While the policy nowhere mandates the imposition of Hindi, the MK Stalin-led DMK government has been quick enough to point fingers at New Delhi, accusing it of trying to impose Hindi and asserting that no other language would be taught in schools other than Tamil and English. By weaponising language and striking a defiant pose, Stalin is apparently trying to inflame passion once again over language and ensure that people get polarised on linguistic lines perpetually. Thankfully, good sense seems to have prevailed up till now among other states, especially in the South, as they have adopted a more conciliatory approach to the issue. For instance, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has not only supported the NEP’s three-language formula but even backed learning Hindi by stating that a “language is not for hating”.
As many would agree, facing challenges on multiple fronts, another bout of language war is the last thing that the country can afford now. Ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural diversities are definitely a cause for celebration, but there can be no justification for erecting narrow domestic walls on the basis of caste, ethnicity, language, region and religion, as it will only imperil the country’s social fabric. A shared heritage and language can’t be a cause for social friction and definitely not a hurdle in the path of national unity. And being multilingual in a land with so much linguistic diversity can never be a cause for concern or an excuse to fan discord.