LANGUAGE CONTOVERSY IN INDIA

Subhash Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi, Rajagopalchari etc. were in favour of having a national language.

It was during the period of Sultanate (Allauddin Khilji), that Hindi emerged as a language. When soldiers
came from Arab and Persia. There were Indians and Persians in the army camps and thus “Hindavi”
emerged as a common dialect.

When “Hindavi” was written in Devanagri script, it became the Hindi language (around 11-12 th century) and
when the same was written in Persian script, it became the Urdu language.

One of the prominent persons who had created the Adi Kal period (11 th and 12th centuries) of Hindi Amir
Khusro

Adi Kal is followed by Bhakti Kal (16th and 17th centuries). Various Bhakti saints (Kabir, Meera Bai, etc.)
wrote their dohas and teachings in that language and thus Hindi flourished.

Riti Kal (18th century) Hindi got enriched. “Shringar Ras”. Various traditions flourished and got merged.

Aadhunik Kal (19th century onwards) after independence

Hindustani language: confluence of Hindi and Persian.

 TAMIL vs. HINDI (1937)

 In Madras, C. Rajagopalchari became the chief minister.
 Despite being a Tamilian, he was in line with Gandhi, Patel and S.C. Bose that Hindi should
be the national language of India.
 Thus he wanted to declare Hindi as the official language.
 When this news was released by media, there were protests. One of the leaders of these
protests was C. Annadurai. Karunanaidhi was a 14-year-old boy at this time and he was
chosen as Annadurai’s possible successor at that time itself.
 This marked the beginning of the entire controversy.
 Possibly there was a superiority complex because Tamil is the oldest language and thus the
issue arose here and not in any other South Indian state.

Throughout South-Asia a single language formula had negative repercussions. For example: imposition of
Urdu in Pakistan, 1956: Single only language policy in Sri Lanka.

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE ISSUE

 STATUS OF HINDI
 Those who advocated for Hindi, the justification given was that this is spoken by almost 40%
of the people in India.
  A funny statement came from a leader in Madras as an opposition to the statements of the
supporters of Hindi as the national language “Crows are in majority in India, so should we
declare crow as the national bird?”
 It was argued that other languages are also equally national
 A counter argument was that languages like Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu are confined within
the geographical boundaries of the respective states and because Hindi is comparatively more
widespread, it should be the national language.
 There are various dialects within Hindi itself. The Hindi of UP style was being propagated
and thus it was considered unfair.
 Hindi as a national language will become a great unifying factor. The argument against this
was that this will instead of creating unity, may lead to division because when one language
is put as national language, the sentiments of non-Hindi speaking groups will get affected and
will create separatist tendencies.
 STATUS OF ENGLISH
 We have just come out of colonial rule and thus English as national language would bring a
colonial element to the nation.
 A parallel argument that had developed was that we don’t have a choice. Considering the
multi-ethnic and multi-lingual character of the nation, English could be used as the common
medium of communication not only between states but also between the centre and the states.
 A general consensus, regarding the 2 languages, emerged that Hindi should be declared as the
official language and English will remain as the associate official language of the Union and the
language of the Parliament will be in both Hindi and English. The communication between the states
will also be in both the languages. After 15 years, a Parliamentary Review Committee will review
whether English should be retained or should be phased out as the associate official language.
 Official Language Act passed by Parliament in 1963  Hindi became the sole official language of
the Union. English was to be continue as the associate official language. It was through this act that
the general consensus was legalised. Earlier ordinances were in function but this was the Act which
concretised and legalised this stance.
 Multi-lingual Solution Three Language Formula: 3 languages will be taught, one regional, one
foreign and Hindi for the non-Hindi areas and any other language for the Hindi area, like Sanskrit or
Urdu. This model didn’t work out when it was put into practice. It failed due to a number of reasons:
1. If Hindi is taught in non-Hindi area, there will be an issue regarding teachers who can teach
Hindi. The teachers who could teach were reluctant to move to these states
2. There was also reluctance on part of non-Hindi states to implement this scheme.
3. Non-Hindi states said that why the Hindi areas should be taught Hindi/Urdu and not their
languages such as Tamil, Malayalam, etc.
 In 1964, Girdharilal Nanda was made the Home Minister of India. He had sympathy for Hindi
because he came from Hindi-speaking region. He issued a directive to all Union Ministries regarding
a report to be given for the progress of Hindi in India. The union ministries further forwarded the
directives to the states. Thereby, language riots emerged, especially in Tamil Nadu. Many student
movements also emerged.
 When these language riots happened, India was not in a condition to handle any further internal
turmoil. A compromise was reached that they must clear their intention that they did not seek to
impose Hindi as the national language.
 Lal Bahadur Shastri was also a supporter of Hindi but if any State is reluctant towards Hindi, it
cannot be imposed on such a state.
 Official Language (Amendment) Act, 1967 (result of the language riots, especially student
movements) By this time Indira Gandhi came into power. Following provisions were brought under
this Act:
1. Clarity was brought. All ambiguities in the Act were removed.
2. The assurance emerged in black and white terms that Hindi will not be imposed against the will
of the states.
3. It was decided that English will continue to be the associate official language even if a single
state desires that.
4. All the languages which are in the 8th schedule will have equal importance and a person can write
the UPSC exam in any of these languages.
5. There shall be a joint use of Hindi and English in the Parliament for oath-taking, debates,
discussions, etc.
 With this the language controversy ultimately ended.

INTEGRATION OF TRIBES

 8.6% of the population of India is tribal.

 Currently we have 400 tribal communities.
 Most of the tribes are in poor condition, despite the policies in their support.
 States having tribal population: Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, M.P., Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal,
Maharashtra, North Eastern states.
 Tribal Conditions:
 They have been living in isolation since a millennium. But we notice that a no. of
developments happened in the last couple of centuries when this isolation was broken to
some extent. The main factor responsible for this was colonialism as they had to exploit the
resources from the forests where the tribes resided. The tribes thus came in conflict with
them.
  Due to colonialism the market forces brought a lot of outsiders like moneylenders, traders,
contractors, etc. they got involved with the tribal areas due to the tribal policy of the
government.
 Definitely, the state was responsible for such exploitation but these all people acted as agents.
 England had an interest in the exploitation of resources especially for ship building,
construction of resources. This way the isolation was broken.
 Results:
1. Lost their lands: they became the tenants on these land.
2. They further fell into debt traps and gradually lost everything. Earlier they were self-sufficient,
they had their own land and could use the forest resources
3. From owners they became agricultural labourers, sharecroppers, etc.
4. The tribal rebellion was mainly due to these policies. The core areas in the forests were reserved
and prohibited tribes from entering them. Example: The Khol Bhil Santhal Rebellion.
5. Government officials had an important role to play as agents of exploitation. Thus the official
class had a role to play in this exploitation.
 All of these past considerations were taken into account before formulation of tribal policies. These
groups were to be developed and at the same time their unique tradition and heritage had to be
preserved, their unique traditional educational system had to be preserved.
 Tribal Policy
1. Museum Approach:
 There should be no interference in their lives or else they will rise against the State.
2. Assimilation Approach
 They have to be assimilated into the mainstream society.

Nehru rejected both the approaches as stated above. Considering them as museum specimen was
unethical. Assimilation Approach was rejected because if they are brought in the mainstream
according to any method they will lose their distinct traditional values culture and lifestyle.

Hybrid Approach: Thereby, a third approach came into being which was a hybrid of the above 2
approaches.

Then the tribal policy was based on 2 objectives:

1. Tribal areas have to progress but they have to progress in their own unique way and at a slow and
steady pace. We cannot enforce our own perspective on them. In their development process, there
has to be no imposition of the perspectives of bureaucrats. Their unique identity was to be
preserved
 2. In the development process the tribes have to be involved. The tribes are considered illiterate and
thus involving them in the process was a little problematic. Example: Involvement of Red Indians
when a dam was to be constructed
 Safeguarding Tribes through Governmental Policies
1. Article 46 [Promotion of educational and economic interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled
Tribes and other weaker sections] became a fundamental provision for safeguarding the tribes.
Not only economic support but also protection from exploitation.
2. The states where tribes were large in population, Governors were vested with special powers to
look into the tribal issues. If state passes any law contravening tribal interests, then the Governor
can modify or amend the law.
3. Reservation of seats
4. Tribal Advisory Council: States where the concertation of tribes is more, there is a provision of
TAC. Frame such policies which could be helpful for the welfare of the tribes. They can advise
both Central and State government. Verrier Elwin, who is an activist and intellectual, had
contributed a lot towards tribal development in India.
5. Commissioner of SC and ST: It is a central position and is appointed by the President of India.
He has to report to the President. His job is to take care that all the policies and constitutional
safeguards for the tribes are working in their favour in practice.
6. Employment Generation: impetus given to the cottage industry. The benefit can be reaped by
anyone in villages but there was special attention given to tribes. For the purpose of self-
employment, they were provided with a lot of incentives and subsidies.
 It is only in the north-east region that tribes are affluent. In other areas they are poor, illiterate and
disadvantaged. A lot of capital has been contributed in this area but the conditions have remained
poor. Reasons for no change:
1. Role of Missionaries in North-east: They brought funds in this region, conversion took place and
it had become sort of a Christian region. North east remained aloof from the Indian mainstream
initially because government did not pay attention to this region.
2. Report by the Planning Commission and report by Commissioner of SCs and STs : There is
divergence between the Central Government and State Government policies. There is also
inability of the State Government to execute the Central policies. This is working against the
interests of the tribes.
3. Non Spending and Diversion of Funds: The funds which are kept for tribal welfare are not being
used for them and many a times used for some other purpose. There have also been instances of
misappropriation of fund.
4. Tribal Advisory Council has not worked properly. It has made suggestions but to what extent
they were accepted and helpful is under question. Most of the TACs have not worked in the
favour of tribes.
 5. Prejudiced Approach of Bureaucracy: The officials are not being trained in their dealings with
tribes. When they reach their respective posts, they already have a prejudiced approach and so
this works against the tribes.
6. Transfer of Sympathetic Officials: If any judges or bureaucrats are sympathetic towards tribal
issue, they get transferred.
7. Most of Tribal People are Unaware: the lack of awareness about rights and illiteracy has further
led to stagnation in their development.
8. Rapid Extension of Industries: Mining and industrial companies are being allowed to use land of
tribal people and this becomes another reason.
 Traditional Knowledge System of Tribes
1. Kani Tribe (Kerala)
 They are in possession of a drug which has medicinal and other purposes. Arya Vaidhya
Pharmacy helped this community to patent this drug and named it “Sanjivini”. It is
considered as a miracle drug because it can be used for anti-fatigue, anti-stress and
immuno-efficiency. The benefit of this drug was to go to the community and the Arya
Vaidhya Pharmacy helped the community to patent this drug. The commercial benefit
eventually went to the community.
2. Raika (Western Rajasthan and Gujarat)
 They are the sheep herders. Earlier these raikas were caretakers of camels. They also took
the job of taking care of sheep.
 They have indulged in wonderful breeding. Sheep can give productivity only in cool
regions and so their productivity is at stake in a place like Rajasthan. They conducted
breeding as per traditional methods and the sheep as a result became heat resistant.
 They can give milk and other products in the hot conditions of Rajasthan.
3. Tribal groups in Tamil Nadu
 Combination of animal parts and herbs and plants. This combination can help in asthma,
leprosy, epilepsy, and around 60 other diseases.
4. Tribal groups of North East region
 A plant very effective in cases of snake and scorpion bites. The name of this plant is
“Rauwalfia Tetraphilla”. The name has been given by Indian scientists. It was found that
if this plant is used on a regular basis, a person can become resistant to snake bites.
 This plant has thus been patented and capsules are being produced nowadays.
5. Meetei Tribe of Manipur
 They are known for being great nature lovers.
 Bamboo is a source of livelihood for most people
 This community has a great role to play in conservation of bamboo trees.
  They followed a practice of not destroying these plants every day. Their consciousness
regarding nature has helped in conservation of nature and biodiversity.

Botanical Survey of India has brought out a list of various traditional knowledge systems belonging to
various tribes. Whenever anything is found about such traditions, it is notified by the Botanical Survey of
India

Son of the Soil Movement [Maati ke Laal]

 Form of regionalism.
 Cartoon that appeared in The Hindu (Mouse playing the flute and riding people out)
 Origin (1960s)
 3 metropolitan cities witnessed this movement- Bombay, Bangalore and Guwahati
 To some extent the problem still persists in these 3 cities.
 The movement was against the immigrants.
 Bangalore
 Percentage of Kanadda speaking population- 23%.
 Other ethnic groups include Tamilians, Malayalis, Telugu, Hindi-speaking groups.
 The local people were completely out-numbered by immigrants.
 Guwahati: 33% of the population is Assamese- speaking.
 Mumbai: 42% of the population is Marathi-speaking.
 Causes:
1. When the conditions of the economy were improving, many metropolitan cities became the cities
of opportunities. Therefore, for the purpose of jobs, many migrants got attracted towards these
cities.
2. Due to the spread of education and educational system, more and more graduates came forward.
But the economy was not that big and prosperous enough to accommodate all the graduates and
therefore they migrated to metropolitan cities.
 Youth, especially students, with job concerns came at the fore-front of this movement.
 Nature:
1. Firstly, this movement was primarily a middle-class movement. People involved in the
movement and the people against whom the movement was initiated were all middle class people
2. It was against the white-collar jobs. Many labourers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, U.P.,
Bihar, etc. moved to these cities for jobs but despite this there was no concern against the black
collar labourers.
3. It was an urban movement. It had no reach in the rural areas.
 Modes of Invoking
 1. It was essentially an identity movement and so they had adopted the ideals of communalism.
Communal issue came at the fore. These issues were used to target the migrants.
2. Casteism was invoked against them.
3. The third form of invocation was language-based. Those who spoke different language were
targeted.
 Demand: Preferential Treatment
 They expected the government to frame such laws and legislation that would benefit the
locals in comparison to the outsiders in terms of jobs, etc. but as per the constitutional
provisions, equality is to be maintained. Article 15 (prohibits the state from discriminating
any citizen on ground of any religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them), Article
16(2). Therefore, such demands cannot be accepted.
 Most of the South Indians have their dhabas in Mumbai. When Shiv Sena and Bal Thakre came to
power, they targeted these dhaba owners. They were also against the Muslim Community. This was
for the purpose of survival.
 This problem currently persists in Mumbai with MNS (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) and Raj
Thakre at the centre of such politics. In other parts like Bangalore and Guwahati, there have not been
such instances.
 Tushar Gandhi (great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi) wrote an article “Who Built Bombay and not
Mumbai?”- If we look at the ancient time when Mumbai was part of Mauryan Empire, Pataliputra
was the capital and the region was under North India.
 The Sultan of Gujarat had also owned this region and even today there are a lot of monuments
belonging to his period. Haji Ali Dargah belongs to the medieval period, around the time when
Sultan of Gujarat was the ruler.
 Parsi community also has a lot of contribution in Mumbai, for instance the Hotel Taj belongs to
Tatas.
 Therefore, Mumbai in essence belongs to all of us and the only people who were the real settlers
were the kohlis or fishermen. Everyone else are immigrants in this sense and thus everyone has equal
rights in the region.
 He also talks about the contribution of British Gerald Aungier- Father of Bombay. Before this it
was controlled by the Portuguese.