September 18, 1965 SWARAJYA THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE By V. MITTER “fae Cononess Paesioenr has said that Hindi is the national lan- suage and will have to replace Englih as the common lanviee ‘of the country in course of time, ‘One wonders whether Mr. Kama- aj really knows what a national Tanguage is. A language is national if it i the language of the nationality, ie, it must be the ‘mother-tongue of all the citizens of the nation, Does Hindi satisfy this requirement? Far from it Why then does such a respon- sible personas Mr. Kamaraj con- fer on Hindi the imaginary status of the national language? Does he not know that all our languages fare recognized as national Tan- iages? Let me_ reproduce here for the Congress President's bene- fit what Mr. Nehru. said during the Lok Sabha debate on the Official Language Bill on Aprit 4, 1962. “He said: ‘The makers of our Constitution ‘were wise in laying down that all the TS of 14 Tanguages were to he rational languages. ‘There. i m0 -question of any one language being ‘more a national language than the ther. Bengali or Tamil or any other regional language is as much am Tian language as Hindi If it is not ont of confusion that Mr, Kamara) is calling Hindi the national language, it probably indicates his acquiescence in the cherished, » sinister design of the Hindi enthusiasts to make it the mother-tongue of all India. No ‘other words better describe this ambition than “Hindi Imperia- lism’. It aims at a large-scale caltural invasion, in the name of unity and the necessity, of a com: ton laiguage to strengthen Te isa pity that poor Kamaraj is Iowingly or, unknowingly "an accomplice to this conspiracy. Replying to a question by Mr. Prakash Vir Shas, Mr. Chagla has said_that the Government is formulating a scheme to start Hindi_ medium schools and col- Jeges in non-Hindi areas durin; the Fourth Plan, Why shoul ‘there be Hindi medium schools and colleges in non-Hindi areas? This is the story of the clever armel ousting the ma n,the tent ‘under pretext of sheltering only its head. Hindi medium schools and colleges with official patro- nage and the attendant privileges will attract more and more people away from the regional language rnecom—man js fandamentally selfish under circumstances. whic bring him monetary benefits and special privileges. More and more Hindt schools" and eetleges wi be opened; more and. more stu- dents will. plump for Hindi, and $0 finally "Sarvam Hindi mayan”. Prime Minister Lal Bahadur has suid: that the linkJanguage will also have to be used as a medium of education at some stage in addi- tion to the regional language. This is probably to round up the few students who wonld avoid the Hindi medium institutions out of sheer love for their mother tongue, which is not to be permit- ted. This shows the mind of the Hindi zealot, who is obviously pressurizing the partisan Govern- ‘ment. ‘The national Tanguage of any Sree es etpa te ae may be traced to the very begin- ning of the country or the nation, Really the history of a nation started with the language and vice versa. The national language might have existed for period of five thousand years, a thousand ‘years or a _mere-conple of hund- red years. English belongs to the latter category as the national language of the United States, Australia, South Africa, East ‘African regions, and the nimerons islands scattered allover the world, Their national language ‘was never imposed on the country ‘or the people at-any intermediate stage of their history. So is the case with the national language of every nation in the world, Let us take the case of India. The problem is unique. Which is really the Indian language? There fre fourteen Tangnages’ listed in our Constitution as Indian lan- guages. Are they all really 2B Indian? Most of them developed from cither of the two languages, Samminit or Tamil even Same krit was brought in by the Aryans! So Tamil is the only Indian lan~ guage, Then Tamil should be cepted. as the national lan- guage! It is clear that the quarrel over Tanguages can be cartied to any Tidicnlons potnt, so itis better to be practical. We have called all our languages national languages. We have the great English lan- guage already as the official lan- guage. No betier testimony is required to vindicate its immense utility than the words of Mr. Justice J. R, Madhotkar, who told Dr, Ram Manohar, Lohia in the Supreme Court “If yon can speak in English, it wifl be .good and convenient for us”. ‘This is the story df the national Tangnage, Coming “back to Mr. Kamnaraj’s, shameless, surrender to the nefarious. idea of. making Hindi the national language, one might » well. say-hé is doing the greatest disservice to the people of his own State, who are up in farms against . Hindi, -and to the peaceoving people of India in general, who put. the unity of the Country at. this cryeial hour before everything else. ‘The non- Hindi people of India will not submit to this blatant hypocrisy. eee suage go. The controversy is onl Shout ‘he Union” Offa Lan. guage. sa a TTY Pry ERSTE SoenEo RAKTHASODHAKA,