DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
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COVER SHEET
SEMESTER I

DEEKSHA DEVI CHOUDHARY

NAME OF THE STUDENT:.....................................................................................
HINDU COLLEGE
COLLEGE:...............................................................................................................
21026708005 PAPER CODE............................................
EXAM ROLL NO.:…………………… 120351103
POST-INDEPENDENCE INDIAN LITERATURE
PAPER NAME:........................................................................................................
COMMENT ON GANDHI'S INDIA OF
TITLE OF THE PAPER............................................................................................
……………………………………………………………………………….………….…..
HINDUSTANI AS A LINK LANGUAGE.

DATE OF SUBMISSION:..........................
31ST MARCH 2022

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 Choudhary 1

Deeksha Devi Choudhary

Post-independence Indian Literature (120351103)

31st March 2022

Gandhi’s Link Language- Hindustani

If we go back to history, before the independence of India, the states were segregated

into two parts, the Princely states, and the British Indian states. After the independence, states

and union territories were categorized into four classifications- part A consisted of nine

erstwhile governor’s provinces of British India, part B included nine former Princely states

with Legislatures, part C consisted of former chief commissioner’s provinces of British India

and Andaman and Nicobar Island was solely left with Part D. The Linguistic Provinces

Commission (aka Dhar Commission) of 1948, JVP committee of 1949 and the States

Reorganisation Commission (SRC) headed by Fazal Ali and constituted by the Central

Government of India in August 1953, discussed on whether the states should be divided on

the linguistic basis or not. Then suddenly, on 1st October 1953, Petti Sriramulu who was a

freedom fighter died on a hunger strike that demanded separation of the Telugu-speaking

state from the Tamil-speaking state of Tamil Nadu presidency. The intensification of the

issue agitated the common public which pressurized the government. In three days, the

government declared the first newly formed state of India (Brock) called Andhra Pradesh.

The creation of Andhra Pradesh sparked the demand of other regions for the creation of states

on the bases of linguistic basis.

We can note above that how language plays a vital role in the integrity, dignity, and

unity of a community, it was important after the independence of India to have one language

for all. As Gandhi was a prominent figure and had a say in suggesting a link language for

government officials and public affairs, he vouched for the Hindustani language whether it
 Choudhary 2

was a lingua franca, a link language, or a national language that was the amalgamation of

Hindi and Urdu. We speak Urdu words in daily use like ‘dil’, ‘khoon’, ‘roz’ etc without even

realizing the usage. Hindustani was a vernacular more used than highly Sanskritised Hindi

and Persianized Urdu. As Gandhi led many mass movements and even supported Muslims in

the Khilafat movement, he never lost any golden opportunity to inculcate Ganga-Jamuni

Tehzeeb1 Although he also supported Muslims on behalf of congress because India needed

Muslim participation in national mass movements against Britishers. Gandhi chose the center

point of two extreme poles to polarise the two ends.

When Gandhi tried to learn South Indian languages, he felt- “I fear now I can never

learn these languages and am therefore hoping that the Dravidians will learn Hindustani.” (M.

Gandhi) But, when he learned rudimentary Urdu, he could speak a fusion language

combining Hindi and Urdu at a war conference in Delhi around 1918-22 After his speech,

Gandhi perceived- “The congratulations and the discovery that I was the first to speak in

Hindustani at a Viceregal meeting hurt my national pride.” (M. Gandhi) Subsequently,

Gandhi wanted Hindustani to be the lingua franca of India as it was easier to teach, learn and

was capable of serving as a medium of religious, economic, and political intercourse

throughout India. . In words of Jyotirindra Das Gupta, “the most important advocate of a

common Indian language designed to unify the national movement was Mahatma Gandhi.”

(Dasgupta). Gandhi had encouraged linguists and intellectuals to recognize "Hindustani" as

the lingua franca for India at the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan's assembly in Nagpur in 1936.

1
An Awadhi poetic phrase used to describe the union of Hindus and Muslims. It is a
euphemism to describe that the believers of Ganga-Jamuna culture take pride in being human
while Hindus and Muslims take pride in being born in their respective religions.
 Choudhary 3

As Gandhi was a pledger of the Swadeshi movement, he boycotted everything

brought by the Britishers, be it salt or fabric. Because of that reason he did not want English

to be the official national language, no Indian wanted to own nostalgia of freedom struggle

with them and keep the ruler’s language to signify being ruled. Although it ended up being

accepted as the language for international diplomacy. Between 1925 and 1929, Gandhi's

Gujarati-language periodical, “My Experiments with truths”, was serialized in his journal

Navajivan in weekly installments. Gandhi wrote his autobiography in Gujrati which is

justifying the fact that he gave preference to roots. As for Hindustani, Gandhi opined that it

can be a medium of national expression and address and in the words of Brock- “Hindi and

Urdu are like the Ganga and the Yamuna. Hindustani is the Saraswati. It has not yet made its

appearance, still it is there” (Brock).

Hindustani was the best option to remove the divide and rule policy of the Britishers

between the Hindus and Muslims. As a Satyagrahi, he said, he believed in universal love and

wanted both languages to prosper for the good of the country. (M. K. Gandhi) It's worthy to

note that India has a diversified linguistic landscape, comprising languages across four

languages families - Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman, and Austro-Asiatic - spoken

here. Nevertheless, each family has its own internal divisions, and many languages have a

substantial linguistic and literary legacy. Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Brijbhasha, Maithili, and

Santhali are also only some languages used in the Hindi-speaking region. Unfortunately, in

this instance, variability and diversity were underestimated, and all non-Dravidian languages

were lumped together under the label of Hindi or Hindustani.

 Choudhary 4

Works Cited

Brock, Peter. The Mahatma and Mother India: Essays on Gandhi’s Non-Violence and

Nationalism. Ahmedabad: Navajivan Publishing House, 1983.

Dasgupta, Jyotirindra. Language Conflict and National Development: Group Politics and

National Language Policy in India. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1970.

Gandhi, M. K. Thoughts on National Language. Ahemdabad: Navjeevan Publishing House,

1956.

Gandhi, Mahatma. An Autobiography Or The Story of My Experiments With Truth. Ed.

Shriman Narayan. Trans. Mahadev Desai. Ahemdabad: Navajivan Mudranalaya, 1927

to 1929.