[These are some sketchy thoughts on this topic]
There is no such a thing called National Language or Rashtr Basha.
Hindi is by far the most spoken language in
While many South Indians (except hardliner Tamilians) learn and study Hindi, almost no North Indian learns any of the South Indian languages.
Role of Sanskrit
Contrary to most school text book versions, Sanskrit is NOT mother of all languages in
During the course of history, there have been many attempts at Sanskritization of Indian languages along the length and breadth of the country (and beyond – up to
Even though kings and learned scholars of South India embraced Brahmanical Hinduism and allowed sankritization of regional languages, the local flavor remained the lingo of the masses, still owing its origins in Dravidian languages. In all South Indian regions, we have a colloquial version which still remains heavily Dravidian, while the literary version is heavily sanskritized.
This effect of sanksritization is seen differently in different Dravidian languages. You will see that the present-day literary Telugu (not the colloquial one) is one of the most heavily sanskritized languages in
Tamilians to the rescue
With their obstinate opposition to imposition of Hindi as National Language, Tamilians rescued most of South Indians from a potential North Indian domination over
While other South Indians did not have the same clout over Indian Administrative Services and other bureaucratic jobs, Tamils were ruling the roost. They had featured in constituent assembly and cabinet meetings to influence the thinking of the Indian Government, and they fought tooth-and-nail to oppose all moves by North Indians to impose Hindi as the national language. It was a hard won battle. And thanks to this bitter opposition, the roots of which lie in a selfish attempt to safeguard their interests, we have English as the official language for all states, making Hindi one of the many Indian languages, not a special one.
As a long term advantage, we can thank Tamils for how
Related Topics: India: North and South Debate, Excessive Nationalism and Blurring of Local Identities, India’s Greatness
Thanks for bringing up and firing up another topic to divide us. What is the difference between Raj Thackrey and you? Both of you are trying to find things that divide and not unite our thoughts. I am sure you would come up with a lengthy intellectual response and article that would tell how localization and "identities" are necessary. The fact remains that your posts try to divide us along different lines. Ultimately, we are all one humanity. You need some perspective my dear friend. Try to unite and not divide. Try to encourage love and not hate.
ReplyDelete- Global Oneness
Still not able to understand the Concept of One India, Which was formed just 67 years before by British for their administrative works.. I wish South India gets freedom from Hindians very soon...
DeleteYou are unable to digest the fact but believe me I am a Telugu native and Sanskritic influence is only limited to text/literature, much like Tamilians spoken Telugu has less rhan 10% of Sanskrit loanwords; there is a strong urge in us to reurrect SanskritFREE language the PURE-TELUGU
DeleteIt is the TAMILS who brought IT to India!!
Sujai,
ReplyDeleteCountries like Malaysia has adopted Malay as national language and English as link language. China has variants of chinese, but they were able to enforce mandarin as national language. Having a common national language helps national development.
Sanskrit influence can be seen in all Indian languages. Tamil is least influenced. There is nothing wrong in getting influenced by some other language. English has adopted many words from Latin, Spanish, Hindi, Tamil etc.
Opposition to Hindi in Tamilnadu is purely a political issue. Anbumani Ramadoss's daughters have chosen only Hindi and English as languages in Delhi school.(Though Tamil is available in Delhi schools) They have sanskrit names. His father is conducting anti hindi agitations.
Global oneness:
ReplyDeleteUltimately, we are all one humanity.
Humanity?
How dare you divide us (humans) from other species on this planet?
'You need some perspective my dear friend.'
;-)
have fun!
I think the main problem here is confusing "official" language with "national" language. When we were in school (Delhi), there were essays to be written on "Rashtra Bhasha" and debates on the future of "Rashtra Bhasha" etc. It was only after I joined parliament secretariat that I realized for the first time that the language act (and its official translation) uses the word "Raj Bhasha" not "Rashtra Bhasha". Both state and central government are free to choose their own "Raj Bhasha", and central government has chosen Hindi (with back up English) as their Raj Bhasha. To add more to confusion, hypocrite as we are, as per the act, Hindi is "Official" language and English is "Co-Official", while the reality is exactly the reverse. Moreover in case of any dispute, only English version of documents is considered authentic and the official language of Supreme Court is English. So in effect we have reversed the meaning of "Official" and "Co-Official".
ReplyDeleteConfusion between Raj Bhasha and Rashtra Bhasha is not unique to Hindi speaking states only. In Tamilnadu, Hindi names on railway stations continue to be tarred even now, though as a central government department railways are obliged to use Hindi in all official communications. It stems from the same confusion that official language of central government is the same thing as national language.
How dare you divide us (humans) from other species on this planet?
ReplyDeleteHow dare you exclude the species from the other planets :). Keep dividing us on the basis of religion, color, region, language, sex, states. You will get your rewards from the species on the other planets. :)
You talk rubbish and your point holds no water.
DeleteI am a Telugu and I know very well that it is a Dravidan language
You get along with your language that is a member of Indo-Aryan language and you convert to Hindi, it is the language of the nation
Our DravidanGroup has been denied it's existence right from 1947, why should I care about RestOfIndia
Regionalism, blah, blah, blah, religion ..etc, I dont care at all!!
My suggestion to you is that you learn Hindi, and convert to a Hindi.
My culture/religion/language is Telugu(South-Central Dravidan language), I dont care for Hindu Gods/Godesses, nordo I care for Sanskrit/Hindi,
to the OutsideWorld I am A SOUTH-INDIAN
my language being TELUGU (South-Central Dravidan language)
Chill dude. Learning languages is good for your brain.
DeletePlease do not divide our country. The marathi-hindi riots are enough, we do not need your tamil-hindi and telugu-hindi riots now. Next, you would start fighting about C# and Java, BluRay vs HDDVD.
ReplyDeleteWe are ignored by the Center right from 1947, Our Dravidan group of language(Tamil,Telugu,Kannada,Malayalam)s is authentically Indian, our identity is being misrepresented, distorted, our languages are being demoted,
DeleteWhy would we need Hindi/Sanskrit they are not mutually intelligible to DravidanGroup of languages.
I dont care about RestOfIndia,
I have to say that DravidanGroup of languages are found in the Southern Region ofIndia
RestOfIndia has Indo-Aryan languages I donr care, as ypu dont care
being a part of the country, we are already paying our taxes, Governament has been elected by us to serve us, we are not listening to the Preachings of thr Governament, if governament is incapable to serve us, we can find a better one
My article comes at an odd time- when riots broke out in Maharashtra over 'excessive regionalism' (another disease - which gets its legitimacy under 'excessive nationalism').
ReplyDeleteThis was not intended.
Knowing the difference between North Indian languages and South Indian languages and their origins to dispel some myths need not be construed as attempts to divide the country.
Abhi:
ReplyDeleteOpposition to Hindi in Tamilnadu is purely a political issue.
I discuss this syndrome at 'Politically motivated'
If you dismiss one of the greatest revolutions that happened in India during early 1900s as 'purely political', I sincerely pity the state of Indian education.
What you see now may look 'political' but the basis for what happened in Tamil Nadu nearly 80 years ago has far reaching consequences. The motives were not entirely political but very much to do with class struggle.
raj karma:
ReplyDeletethe marathi-hindi riots are enough, we do not need your tamil-hindi and telugu-hindi riots now.
If knowing the origins of Indian languages, and dispelling the myth about status of national language is going to cause riots, then I would suggest that all Indians should be barred from going to schools and colleges.
Looks like knowledge seems to be good enough reason for rioting.
To see this syndrome in action, you can read Peevish Indians.
My article comes at an odd time- when riots broke out in Maharashtra over 'excessive regionalism' (another disease - which gets its legitimacy under 'excessive nationalism').
ReplyDeleteThis was not intended.
Raj Thackrey also did not intend on doing a lot of things that are happening now in Maharashtra.
I sincerely hope that your intentions are right with your posts on caste division, religion division, region division and language division. There are just too many coincidences when we read your posts and see the things happening around.
I hope you do not become another Raj Thackrey.
I would suggest that all Indians should be barred from going to schools and colleges.
I sincerely pity the state of Indian education.
Where were you educated?
Looks like knowledge seems to be good enough reason for rioting.
ReplyDeleteThe knowledge like the following seems to be a really good reason for animosity between different regions. Wow! "Rescue" - you must be smokin' something really good.
Tamilians rescued most of South Indians from a potential North Indian domination over South India.
Sujai, Im not sure if u r a South Indian particularly a Tamilian or not. But I feel u r comments r very nerutral and I empathize with ur views, not coz im from Tamil Nadu but from I feel we need to stop imposing restrictions on people in India. First its language, then its religion, and then its marriage... its just goes on..
ReplyDeletewill india ever change? definitely not in the near future
Raj Karma:
ReplyDeleteThere are just too many coincidences when we read your posts and see the things happening around.
Take a ticket, and stand in line! There are many others who feel the same.
Are you going to blame the author who predicted the doomsday scenario before Nazi led Holocaust happened, or are you going to blame the Nazis?
;-)
Read my stand at:
Where do I stand?
If people call me Santa Claus, I don’t have to prove otherwise. If I try to understand Islamic fundamentalism, that doesn’t make me a Muslim, the same way if I try to understand Russian revolutions that doesn’t make me a Russian.
and more about criticisms at:
Why do we criticize our nations?
Most of us who criticize our nations are ensconced in democratic and free institutions in which we take pride. The reason why we take pride in our nations is because it allows and accepts that criticism, our voice and expression, however bizarre it may sound. We believe this criticism is necessary to provide the necessary checks and balances to otherwise a strong and autocratic government that feeds on fascistic, nationalistic or religious jingoistic majorities. We believe these nations are great because of this very reason- that it allows people to speak their opinion and criticize their nations- each of its actions and symbols.
A:
ReplyDeleteSujai, Im not sure if u r a South Indian particularly a Tamilian or not.
I am South Indian. I am Telugu.
And I speak Hindi very well and have many family friends from North India. ;-)
Are you going to blame the author who predicted the doomsday scenario before Nazi led Holocaust happened, or are you going to blame the Nazis?
ReplyDeleteAt this time Holocaust (marathi riots) happened before the prediction (this article) :)
Raj Karma:
ReplyDeleteYou said:
There are just too many coincidences when we read your posts and see the things happening around.
Insinuating that somehow I am one of the causes for such divisive forces... [further bolstered by your other remark]
Please do not divide our country. The marathi-hindi riots are enough, we do not need your tamil-hindi and telugu-hindi riots now.
And when I said that I am just being a predictor instead of being an instigator of such riots, you continue:
At this time Holocaust (marathi riots) happened before the prediction (this article)
Where are we going with this?
Are you suggesting that I wrote this article based on what happened in Maharashtra (to further fuel more such riots)?
I discussed such 'excessive regionalism' in various other articles that preceded this one.
For example, I write, in 'Excessive Nationalism and Blurring of Local Identities':
Other negatives of excessive nationalism
Excessive nationalism when not really in use sometimes vents itself as other isms- such as regionalism or communalism. As a corollary, certain groups starting out with parochial and radical regionalisms and communalisms get legitimacies when they portray themselves as nationalists. For example, Shiv sainiks who named themselves after Shivaji (who is considered a patriot under a national banner), first targeted Tamils in Mumbai, displaying their excessive regionalism, and later transformed themselves into a group targeting Muslims, displaying their excessive communalism. They get their legitimacies from many educated Hindus when they champion nationalism. Many Hindus laud Bal Thackeray and his Shiv sainiks when he takes a belligerent stand against Pakistan during a cricket season. Shiv sainiks get their legitimacy as true patriots and they use this slogan to cover up many of their other isms.
Certain groups move between these various isms very easily. The defenders of Kannada in Bangalore target Tamils on Cauvery issues, and then vent it out on non-Kannadigas during other incidents showing excessive regionalism, but also portray themselves as the defenders of the nation when protesting against Narayana Murthy over his comments on National Anthem. BJP and its affiliations use this card on a regular basis. They are defenders of national prestige and pride on the national arena while targeting Muslims and Christians in their local constituencies.
I think your post is intended to remove Indian identities created from false facts. Wonder why people are reading all kinds of stuff into it. Perhaps the article is erasing such false identities created within them and that must be hurting at some level
ReplyDelete~ Vinod
Sujai,
ReplyDeleteAny country needs common identities for nation to survive. Hindu religion & Hindi language to some extent are common identities for our country other than constitution. Any body who is against this country targets these two things. Dravidian parties have also followed same strategy by opposing Hindu religion & Hindi language.
If we had adopted Hindi as national language we would have progressed better than as we are today.
Tamilnadu also would have progressed more if politicians have not prevented Tamilians from studying Hindi. Today, north indians prefer to work in Hyderabad or Bangalore than in chennai because of language problem.
Language patriotism= nationalism
Deletelink/national language= national/economic progress
National Language=National Unity
Development of North India= Northies going all around india searching for employment
Dont confuse with language and other things. more and more pestering more and more resistance. India does not fit in to any of the usual norms of nationhood. its diversity and recognition thereof is its ONLY strength.
Any way thanks for not coming.
Buddy see the economic growth of South India. Don't just blabber.
DeleteHindians don't have a living condition in This is another form of War.
you have ur answers..
" north indians prefer to work in Hyderabad or Bangalore than in chennai because of language problem"
Nice post! Ive been reading your blog for quite sometime and find its depth and clarity exhilarating!
ReplyDeleteYou are partially right when you say that the anti-hindi agitations was an important reason for English becoming the unofficial "official" language of the country. Our colonial past also hepled though. If we had chosen a national language like the Chinese we'd have ended up like them-trying frantically to understand the basics of English before the Olympics and we'd have lost out on all those opportunities that a globalised English speaking world provides.
Its wonderful that there are people who actually recognise the contributions of Periyar and his Dravidar Kazhagam towards breaking caste barriers, untouchablility and the stranglehold that the Brahmins had over Hinduism(and its sanskritisation) rather than merely identifying him as an iconoclast. Another reason why reservations are fiercely opposed in the North. Lack of any grass root movement against Brahmanical Hinduism (which was more of a class struggle) has led to stupid debates about 'merit', 'islands of excellence' etc. Guess im going way off topic. Good post though!
Abhi:
ReplyDeleteHindu religion & Hindi language to some extent are common identities for our country
I do not agree with that statement. I don’t think Hindu religion is a common identity for our country because this country is home to Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Jains and many others. In addition to Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism actually originated in India. So, saying that Hindu religion is a common identity in this country is patently wrong.
Coming to Hindi Language- the whole idea of this article starting with the title conveys a strong message- that Hindi is not a unifier or a common identity in India. It is an alien language to certain regions (Dravidian languages) and hence it is NOT a national identity and any attempt to make it one will be rejected with good reasons.
Any body who is against this country targets these two things. Dravidian parties have also followed same strategy by opposing Hindu religion & Hindi language.
This is so typical of so-called patriotic people calling others non-patriotic. To oppose Hindu religion is not attacking the country and to oppose Hindi language is not opposing the country. This particular selective definition of patriotism is discussed in ‘Excessive nationalism and blurring of local identities’ on this blog.
If we had adopted Hindi as national language we would have progressed better than as we are today.
I have strong opinions to the contrary.
Tamilnadu also would have progressed more if politicians have not prevented Tamilians from studying Hindi. Today, north indians prefer to work in Hyderabad or Bangalore than in chennai because of language problem.
On the other hand, almost every human development indicator suggests that Tamil Nadu is way better off than Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan
;-)
"Any country needs common identities for nation to survive. Hindu religion & Hindi language to some extent are common identities for our country other than constitution."
ReplyDeleteIt was Jan Sangh that advocated its kind of nationalism based on "Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan". Fortunately they could see reason (at least on the language part) after Bangladesh. When Ayub asked East Pakistani-s to choose between their language and their nation, they gave their verdict: you can have one nation with two languages or one language with two nations.
Sujai,
ReplyDeleteSujai: Tamilnadu is way better than Hindi speaking states like Rajastan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar & Madya pradesh in all human resource indicators.
Tamilnadu's growth is nothing to do with its opposition to Hindi language. Kashmir & Punjab are the states with lowest poverty, will you say it is because of terrorism?
People confuse Tamilnadu's growth with its negatives like reservation and regionalism. Tamilnadu's growth was much less than national average till 1980.
Tamilnadu was able to improve primary school enrollment from 1982 because of noon meal scheme, it started 200+ Engineering colleges plus 1000's of arts colleges in 1990's. (West bengal with similar size has 10+ engineering colleges). In 2000, it has started free cycle scheme which has improved secondary school enrollment from 3.50 lacs to 5.2 lacs. With or without reservation & regionalism, Tamilnadu would have progressed. If UP follows same policies, it can also progress.
If interested i can show you relevant statistics to prove my point.
Abhi:
ReplyDeleteThere is a way a debate is conducted. If not conducted properly, we get lost in the trees and miss the woods.
First, you said that opposition to Hindi by Tamils is ‘purely political’ issue.
Opposition to Hindi in Tamilnadu is purely a political issue.
I contested this by asking if such a big movement that spanned few generations of leaders and people was a ‘purely political’ movement, because I have reasons to believe that it is a historic movement that challenged Brahmanical Hinduism and its stranglehold that came out toppling it.
Then you went on to define India through Hindi and Hinduism (which we reject completely) and went onto say that Tamil Nadu would have progressed better if it had embraced Hindi.
Tamilnadu also would have progressed more if politicians have not prevented Tamilians from studying Hindi.
I contested this hypothesis by pointing out how some of the states that have embraced Hindi are NOT doing well at all (thereby conveying the message that having embraced Hindi does not necessarily bring more progress).
When one presents a hypothesis, the other person can present a counter example to negate it. That’s what I was doing. Your hypothesis was that a state would do better if it embraces Hindi. My retort was to negate that hypothesis – conveying that embracing Hindi does not automatically guarantee progress and that it has NO correlation at all. To make my point, I gave few examples.
Then you go on to say a completely antithetical statement
Tamilnadu's growth is nothing to do with its opposition to Hindi language.
Exactly. Tamil Nadu’s growth has no basis in either embracing or non-embracing of Hindi language which negates your earlier assertion that ‘Tamil Nadu would have progressed better if it had embraced Hindi’.
Sorry, but the quality of debate is quite important for me to keep myself engaged in. I am not here to quench my intellectual curiosity or to prove I am right.
I ask some basic questions and provide opinions on that. Usually I would have sat on a topic for quite long and thought about it before I go ahead and publish it. I have some articles in draft stage for over a year now. I choose my words carefully (of course sometimes I am flippant, but rarely) and present my arguments carefully, not wavering from the original premise.
To counter that you would have to a better job.
Sujai said:
ReplyDelete"Exactly. Tamil Nadu’s growth has no basis in either embracing or non-embracing of Hindi language which negates your earlier assertion that ‘Tamil Nadu would have progressed better if it had embraced Hindi’."
From this I see no reason to conclude that Tamilnadu would not have prospered even more had it embraced Hindi. More language you learn, more opportunities you open for yourself. More widely the language is spoken, more your scope gets broadened.
"I have reasons to believe that it is a historic movement that challenged Brahmanical Hinduism and its stranglehold that came out toppling it."
Do not forget that quite a substantial part of it was plain rowdyism quite similar to Raj Thackeray and his ilk. Naipaul in his Million Mutinies has graphically depicted how Brahmin children's shikha-s were forcibly cut, their sacred threads were broken, their idols were dececrated and their priests' faces blackened -- all in the name of empowering Dalits.
Sujai,
ReplyDeleteMy statements
"Tamilnadu would have progressed better if politicians have not prevented Tamilians from learning Hindi"
This statement comes from my personal experience in working at Chennai, Bangalore & Hyderabad. I have seen most s/w companies in Bangalore & Hyderabad has more than 50%people from other regions. Most companies in Tamilnadu has 80% people from Tamilnadu. My friend started software company in Bangalore. Primary reason given by him is "It is easy to get people in Bangalore because people from anywhere in India is willing to work in Bangalore". Indians from any region is willing to work since there is no language problem.
""Tamilnadu's progress is nothing to do with its opposition to Hindi language"
Tamilnadu is opposing Hindi for the last 40+ years. Its growth could be tracked to increase in primary school enrollment which can be tracked to Noon meal scheme.
hi sujai, ur theory of Anti-hindi agitation by tamils leading to embracing english by south indians leading to better chance in IT revolution is interesting. Besides English, and anti-hindi, i think south indian states are generally doing higher in HR indicators which is a main reason we are doing well.
ReplyDeleteThen, as a Tamil, I would like to clarify few things.
The Pure Tamil movement started in early 1900s and reached its peak around 1950s. The Self Respect movement by Periyar, The Anti-Hindi Movement also happened around 1950s, but you cannot view any of them as a result of any other. Meaning, The Pure Tamil movement was a result of more love for Tamil and insecurity arising out of over mix of other languages than as a hate for Hindi, Sanskrit. Many of the scholars who led Pure Tamil movement were actually learned in Sanskrit.
The Anti-Hindi agitation was a differnet movement which peaked in 1965 and should not be confused with Pure Tamil movement. The Anti-hindi agitation was a success due to massive student protest and not because of any bureaucratic bickering. To project this movement as one to save the self interest of bureaucrats is not only incorrect but also a humiliation to unselfish students who were shot dead in this agitation. It was a mass protest from the grass-root level. No other state has had a mass protest of that scale. Only Bangladesh has such a history in language movements. If making things happen through bureaucratic route is that easy, we could have achieved lot of things. In fact, most of the bureaucrats around that time were of upper class and proficient in Hindi.
by the way, my name is ravishankar.
ReplyDeleteRavishankar:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the clarifications. It helps to write the events in details so that they are not clubbed together.
Thanks for the inputs.
//Any body who is against this country targets these two things. Dravidian parties have also followed same strategy by opposing Hindu religion & Hindi language.//
ReplyDeleteAbhi, are you making serious comedy?. It is baseless allegations against the Dravidian party. I have seen people who is not ready for discussion or doesn’t have enough proof to defend their remarks throw horrifying remarks against the opponent. It is personal attack and not on their ideas.
//If we had adopted Hindi as national language we would have progressed better than as we are today. //
I could see the improvement in the states Bihar, UP, MP and Rajasthan, the Hindi belt area who studied Hindi than South Indian states.
Comparing Punjab and Tamilnadu shows your ignorance. Punjab has rich in water resources where as for TamilNadu the case is reverse.
- Anand
Very interesting debate between Sujoy and Abhi, and I have to say, I agree with Sujoy here.
ReplyDeleteTamil is a classical language, and there is no reason to enforce one language on a culture under the brand of nationalism.
To paraphrase Werner Herzog, why is it that so many of us mourn the death of endangered species, but no tears are shed for dead languages, which are also being constantly crushed by globalized monoculture.
Hi Sujai,
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said in this post.
Global Onenes..
"Try to encourage love and not hate."
Yes, Please tell this to the people from Hindi speaking states who are in need of this the most.
abhi,
"Having a common national language helps national development."
Yes, Are you ready to accept Tamil as the National Language of India.
Will all the North Indians leave Hindi and learn Tamil from now onwards ?
When we South Indians expect that North Indians should respect our langauge & culture we are labelled as facist & regionalist.But if they insult our culture & our identity by making a cultural invasion on us they are doing the job of uniting the country.It is time that we stand up to this kind of north Indian hegemony.No wonder why ULFA kills those North Indians in Assam.
ReplyDeleteGod Save India.
I am a north Indian and hence well versed in Hindi.But I can't understand this view-point of many Hindi speakers that non-Hindi speakers must know Hindi.Just think what would be an engineer's answer if he/she is asked to conduct a surgery...simple, that he/she can't do so because it was not a part of their vocational training..and rightly so...similarly think of a person who hails from a town/village somewhere in TN...right from his/her childhood he/she hasn't faced any need of speaking Hindi...his/her friends,teachers,neighbors,family,shopkeepers etc all talk in Tamil..so what the hell need of learning Hindi...and so how can someone well versed in Hindi expect such a person to speak in Hindi...its sheer arrogance,nothing else...just because Hindi speakers are in majority doesn't mean that it becomes mandatory for everyone to speak in Hindi, irrespective of their place of origin...its nothing but a reflection of notion 'might is right'...I totally disagree with this line of thought that all Indians must be well versed in Hindi or else its a sign of lack of nationality.
ReplyDeletejust because Hindi speakers are in majority doesn't mean that it becomes mandatory for everyone to speak in Hindi, irrespective of their place of origin...its nothing but a reflection of notion 'might is right'...I totally disagree with this line of thought that all Indians must be well versed in Hindi or else its a sign of lack of nationality.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the North and I second that. Imposing a language on others is not the way to unite a country - though introducing optional language classes in schools other than Hindi in North India would be helpful.
-Chirkut
I have closely gone through your post Mr.Sujay.I am happy to see that people are accepting that Hindi imposition is NOT the way.
ReplyDeleteI have loong back pioneered this ideas in thinkdigit forums where,all North Indians who are very ignorant and abusive,wants hindi imposition on Non-Hindi speakers.
Personally,I am against both Hindi imposition and also reluctant to learn other language people like most tamils.
tamils wont learn any language even if they stay there for 25 years.thats what we see in Banglore,bombay etc.
only LANG tamils can learn/talk somewhat is Malyalam.
Cheers to ur words and may u visit this forum with ur words :)
http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79680
and:
http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35377
THE BECOMING OF HINDISTAN
ReplyDeleteThe central govt in Delhi has plans to wantonly ignore other languages and pave the way for their decline by sole use of Hindi and by the portrial of India to the outside world as Hindia.
Except for some sentiments raised by Tamils, other language speakers are simply taking it for granted to accept Hindi as their officated mother tongue.
Some examples of Hindian propoganda by both the Hindian central government and large MNCs:
1>Gas books across India printed only in Hindi and English
2>Air Hindia, Hindian Airlines, S(J)et(h) Airway etc having announcements only in English and Hindi.
3>Hindi being compulsory in CBSE schools while Hindian can choose to skip the state language in favour of Sanskrit
4>Lack of opportunity of native Tamils in the north leave alone North Indians to learn Tamil and other southern languages in their areas
5>Tamil being portrayed with lude ‘comical’ roles in Hindian films
6>Hindian railways train tickets skipping the state language
7>Airports (like in Madras) hiring Hindians who cant speak Tamil/state language
8>Hindian Railway and other Hindian institution websites restricted to only Hindi and English
9>Hindian movies only being sent to the Oscars and other cultural events ignoring other languages
10>Hindian bank passbooks skipping the state language
11>ATMs of most banks (Citibank, Hindian Bank etc restricting to Hindi and English)
12>Looking down on states of Tamil Nadu because of refusal to prescribe to “accept-Hindi-as-your-language” attitude
13. The very use of the term “Regional language” to non-Hindi languages
14. The use of Hindian stickers in trains and else portaying “speaking Hindi is nationalism” and other propoganda messages stating use of English or non-Hindi as not being nationalistic.
15. The very absence of languages other than Hindi on the symbol of citizenship of the country– the passport
The above is a part of a sinister policy create to transform India to simply Hindia or Hindistan.
These remarks are taken as fascist…but you need to ask yourself whether the National Language policy of India itself isnt fascist.
If you trace the history since independence regarding the use of language apart from Hindi, you can foretell the future plan for this fascist policy.
This Hindian fascism should not make it a big mistake for India to be a lingual union. The last thing for the country is encouragement a colonial attitude by speakers of the “elevated” lingo.
DMK, PMK and other Tamil traitors are happy with this scenario as they are in business with their Hindian masters who safeguarding the TN reservation policy, where several Hindi OBCs get reservation in TN while Tamil FCs are thrown out. Their vote bank has been assured by their Hindian masters.
Imposition of Tamil in tamilnadu is the same as imposing hindi. what happened in tamilnadu was trying fix one wrong by other religional / class wrongs. you are glorifying tamil regionalism which is the worst in the country.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said:
ReplyDeleteImposition of Tamil in tamilnadu is the same as imposing hindi.
This is ridiculous! Sometimes I wonder if people outsource their brains too. There is no reason to 'impose' Tamil in TamilNadu. Everyone speaks the language here dude! Does anyone 'impose' Hindi in the northern states? How absurd does that sound? Honestly this discussion is getting too weird for words.
Besides how is Hindi chavuvninsm any better that Tamil regionalism?
Rags, hindi chauvinism is no better than tamil regionalism. when did i say that? i think u imagined it when u got carried away with the brilliant statement abt brain out sourcing. simmer down.
ReplyDeletetamil has been made a compulsary subject in all state school in tamilnadu. thats force too. freedom is a personal concept and what applies at the national level surely applies at the state level right?
I don't know abt northern states, I'm not a northie...
"tamil has been made a compulsary subject in all state school in tamilnadu. thats force too"
ReplyDeleteIt's force only if there is objection to making it compulsory. Do you know of people in Tamil Nadu objecting to making it compulsory? I haven't heard of any.
~ Vinod
Vinod, you call that a logical argument? how old are u five?
ReplyDeleteof course the regionalism has support of the masses, but any gadhwali living in tamilnadu has to learn the language now. is it not force? do u expect these people to come out on the streets and take on the tamil chauvinist goons?
Vinod,
ReplyDeleteWhen any decision favouring majority is taken, possibility of protests are minimum. Protests can happen only if minority group has strong political backing. If Narendra modi introduces Hindutva syllabus, there will not be any protests in Gujarat. If TN Government increases reservation percentage to 89%, there will not be any protests in Tamilnadu. Will you justify such decisions?.
Good questions, guys. I think the issue has to be looked upon more holistically. If we take the simple approach that anything accepted by the majority and not a trait of the minority is a force on the minority we will end up having to scrape off many laws and regulations. The minorities (by any aspect), do recognize that there are some things they will have to give away in a democracy. This is part of being part of the larger state community. Minorities usually do not have particular objections to compromising on aspects of their identity that are only peripheral to who they are. When the majority start infringing on very dear aspects of the minority's core identity, that is where one can talk about draconian laws. Usually the minorities will find this unacceptable and there will be voices of objection from them. Ideally one would like the communities to be in constant dialogue about these issues. But that doesn't happen in reality. Therefore, realistically we can look out for signs of objections coming from the minority community and then re-evaluate the existing policy.
ReplyDeleteHope that clarifies my stand.
~ Vinod
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ReplyDeleteAnonymous said:
ReplyDeleteof course the regionalism has support of the masses, but any gadhwali living in tamilnadu has to learn the language now. is it not force? do u expect these people to come out on the streets and take on the tamil chauvinist goons?
I can apply the same logic and say that Hindi is compulsory in the Northern states though Tamil,Telugu,Malayalai minorites live there. So would you call that an imposition of Hindi on them? I would not because they live there and it is imperative to know the language spoken in the area where you live.
When you go to a region it is natural to learn the language of the region. Otherwise basic communication is difficult. Why would you call that an imposition? Beats me.
Kudos Sujai.
ReplyDeleteImposition of a language over a population is as brutal as an invasion.Iam from Madurai and I speak Thoda thoda Hindi.
When I try to converse with the Bhel puri vaala in Hindi,he immmediately starts complaining that the local people doesnot know Hindi...
what a joke man..and we Tamils never hurt them for their attitude.
Here is a chronology of Anti Hindi Demonstrations that heppened in TamilNadu.
http://www.geocities.com/tamiltribune/03/0101.html..
Keep writing Bro!
//It stems from the same confusion that official language of central government is the same thing as national language.//
ReplyDeleteIt is NOT !
OFFICIAL Language of TN is Tamil & English.
Out of 28 states and 7 UTs, ONLY 10 states and 3 UTs have hindi as one of the "Official Language".
The center has NO right to impose its stand on the states.
http://vetri-vel.blogspot.com/2006/12/india-does-not-have-national-language.html
We are being terrorized by Hindi chauvinists. We need a separate nation to preserve our culture and regional languages. In Maharashtra, Hindi speakers have already outnumbered Marathi speakers. Delhi government always supports North Indians. We have nthing in common with Aryan India. We want a separate Dravida nation.
ReplyDeleteDOWN WITH INDIA!!
LONG LIVE DRAVIDIAN UNITY!!
~Aditya
Good that people are becoming aware of imperialistic nature of Indian state. The fact is that India has always oppressed its minorities - be they religious minorities like sikhs, muslims, christians or linguistic and cultural minorities like dravidians or ethnic minorities like nagas and kashmiris. Only solution is to break this artificial entity called India into several sovereign nations - hindustan, khalistan, maharashtra, dravidistan, nagaland etc.
ReplyDeleteGurdeep
Toronto, Canada
Wow!
ReplyDeleteIf Aditya's and Gurdeep's comments are anything to go by then we certainly seem to have come a long way from Hindi nationalism to Indian Imperialism.
Patriotism does not mean supporting your country in right or wrong. It is a matter of fact that Indian state has always suppressed weaker sections, be they religious, ethnic or linguistic minorities. Imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speaking southern states is just one more sign of Indian imperialism
ReplyDeleteGurdeep
Toronto, Canada
ear people ,
ReplyDeleteI had a good time spending with northies and their arrogance for enforcement of Hindi on south Indians.If we learn English as a universal language and even south Indians themselves can communicate way better in English and by that I meant even a tyre puncture repair wala guy ,then WTH we need Hindi?
OTOH ,I respect those who want to learn languages for the sake of it.myself too learned read-write Tamil for better communication while in tamilnadu.kannada ,hindi too.thats fine.but dont poke the nose unwantedly!
See the looong debate where I was also a part with the major problems like anti-hindi movement in tamilnadu brought up:
FFT(food for thought) :
http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35377
First of all, to counter someone who stated that "hinduism and hindi should be put as our national religion and national language"
ReplyDeleteLanguage is something that serves as a medium for communication, hence there needs to be a standard (voluntarily agreed upon or imposed) but religion is a perspective that one has.No one practices religion for someone else and hence, to have a standard on religion is ridiculous.That would be infringing upon one's freedom.
Choosing any one would have its associated pro's and con's
1.ENGLISH as national Language
pro's-
When all countries are moving towards a free and one global economy,having english would only help us.
con's-
a large portion of our population is still uneducated and have no means of learning english hence having it as a national language woould only prove diificult for them.
2.HINDI
pro's-
A large population in India already speak that language and having it as national language COULD mean inter state trade links can improve .
con's-
that would mean many south states would have to learn a language, especially when they are uneducated and that would pose great diifculties.
also we would be at a loss when the entire world speaks english and we do not know it.
It is better that all school going kids learn both the languages.
The uneducated and the non school going population are at a loss irrespective whether hindi or english becomes the national language.
I'm proud that you are a Telugu...
ReplyDeleteI accept with what you wrote in the main article...
hi Everyone
ReplyDeletethe topic is so gud n intresting and well said ...i am tamilian and working in a leading software company in 2006 i got posted to Mumbai , that time i really dont knw any single wrod in Hindi , i suffered a lot in starting but managed , but felt tat i missed to learn Hindi may be due to Tamil Nadu education structure .later i learnt and now ok kind .
Excellent article, and comments! Apart from the imposition of an alien language, there is the additional risk of slow erosion of the native culture that usually follows. I believe it is already too late in many states/cities where Hindi has replaced native language and traditions. There has to be an awareness of the fact that this is being done. Or else, like a frog being cooked alive over a slow fire we will do nothing to escape this imposition. Perhaps Tamilnadu is the only state within the union that has done anything at all to prevent imposition of Hindi. Even there it is slowly creeping in through the Central government institutions and Doordarshan.
ReplyDeleteTo those folks who consider English to be a alien language and hence unfit to be an official language: Consider the case of Singapore and it adoption of English as their official language, verses adopting Mandarin Chinese, which is the language of the majority of people. They have made tremendous strides economically since independence. Here is what former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew has to say regarding the adoption of English:
“Singapore’s multi-racial peoples will never be united if we had used Mandarin as our common language. All non-Chinese, 25% of Singaporeans, will be disadvantaged. The result will be endless strife, as in Sri Lanka, where Singhalese was made the national language and the Tamil-speaking were marginalized”, the senior statesman said further. "
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=28763
Chetha
I am asking my friend abhi i will learn hindi tell me one advantage thats all.DO not talk as you like to talk.The whole thing that north peple always has a dominance over others.And inturn you are telling we are dominating you its foolishness.You know sarvepali radhakrishnan second president of India does not know Hindi.He is a great scholar.You know Ramnujan Mathematical Guru does not know any Hindi.you know the father of linguistic states Amarajeevi does not know any Hindi.Even Abdul kalam the predident of India knows Hindi/urdu.Since he knows that it is not useful.He has never addressed the people in Hindi
ReplyDeletehi, i think the good thing is that we all love our langauge,our culture,tradition.i love many tamilians like v anand, rk laxman, hema malini, ar rehamn. They have all done india proud.it does not matter to me whether they know hindi or not.They are still great people it means knowing a lnaguage or not, does not take ur greatness from u. i think we menatally devide ourslef and think others imposing upon us.I can only say no one can force pople for long to do things they dont want.AS for we all beleive india is great country we are proud to be indians. I am anorthie hindi speaker .I love my language but certainly i dont hate any other language.But comparet o english i still find hindi easy to converse.may be because its my mother tongue.But i feel proud to be hindi speaker.I think its nothing wrong in liking the language u speak ifothers dont like u.U cant do anything about it.
ReplyDeletePersonally in my life i have not forced anybody to speak my langauge.I like to speak in english because its always fun to learn new langauge.If u can teach me tamil or telgu i am ready to learn it.
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ReplyDeleteSujai, well done! wonderful article! the root cause of this problem lies with the historical Aryan-Dravidian issue. The Indo Aryans whose descendents were from eastern europe and central asia invaded our country and we were driven south.Aryan tribes from the northwest infiltrated onto the Indian subcontinent about 1500 B.C and the earlier inhabitants in whole of India are Dravidians.They spread brahminism which is a seperate belief altogether to divide us by castes. This is the true history which is maligned for these invaders vested interests.
ReplyDeleteAll these language issues are a mere reflection of this historical aryan invasion.
Abolish the unproductive Hindi language in the whole South India and also in Maharashtra. Unproductive Hindi 'national' language is only for backward BIMARU states.
ReplyDeleteEnglish is the gateway to the world and also let us respect the local languages.
@Bhushan,
ReplyDeleteAbdul Kalam does not know Urdu/Hindi. If he knew he would have spoken in Urdu/Hindi. Tamil Muslims don't speak Urdu.
Sujai,
ReplyDeleteI am very supportive of you in various issues that you discussed and examined thoroughly in your blog. Infact you had been very close to what I believe and I was glad and proud that I share the same understanding with you. But your views regarding this issue simply pinched me off from that alignment.
I agree that most of the people in india do not speak or understand hindi in absolute terms but hindi is atleast understood by majority of indians. Neither is english a widely learned and spoken language in india. But still we accept it as our medium in schools and universities. We capitalize over several non-english speaking literates and intellectuals just because we learned to speak and write english.
Suppose if hindi was accepted all throughout india like what our constitutional drafters anticipated, more indians would have seen the light of global knowledge today.
How many villagers in India today undertand and speak english fluently?
Hindi was chosen as medium to propagate a unique identity of indian ness because it is more closer to our indian languages and majority spoken than any foreign language. Illiterate indians could easily catch hindi comparatively than english. It was wise to encourage hindi learning among populations in southern parts of india so that Northern parts and southern parts integrate effectively. However partisan political powers later inculcated division among south and north later. Indian Nationalistic feelings were at its peak after independence and no one ever tried to discourage South and North Integration during that period.
As abhi said, hindi in tamilnadu was opposed on a purely political basis to curb Rajagopalchary and his dominance in tamil politics.
Even rajaji has his own share of language bias when he imposed hindi in all schools of TN in place of telugu(which was lot more prominent in North TN back then). Kamaraju and others only extended this partisan language politics to include hindi later to gain political strength.
We can speak loads about brahmanical sanskritization of India on historical basis but remember sanskrit was only able to sustain it self in hindu rituals and prayers. On the same basis hindi would have been propagated with out disrupting local languages and would have effectively helped in cross country political integration. Also remember our constitution has recognized various other langugaes officially.
Take for example of pakistan, even though Urdu was not even the majority language of Pakistan it was made official language and was propagated among everyone to bring about ethnic and cultural integrity successfully.
About tamilnadu having upperhand in central politics is not because they simply hated hindi but because of the tamilnadu bureaucrats who were able to attain big positions in central govt and delhi imediately after independence just liek andhra people dominated jobs in hyderabad after unification.
ReplyDeleteAnd Sujai,
ReplyDeleteFrom a CBSE background I would also let you know that We stopped learning hindi at school after 7th standard. We were give an option to chose any language including sanskrit as second and all of our class except few who studied outside the state before, opted telugu. Surprisingly most of our seniors chose sanskrit. English was our first language though. Surprisingly most of the state syllabi impose learning hindi and telugu till SSC. It is the responsibility of the state and not the central gvt.
Sravan:
ReplyDeleteI am very supportive of you in various issues that you discussed and examined thoroughly in your blog.
Thanks for that support. You have been answering many commenters on Telangana issue. Since what you answer is almost similar to what I would have done, and many a times better than what I would have done, I am getting a break.
I don’t believe that we should agree on every topic.
Coming to this topic, I think that there is idealism and then there is realism. Idealism suggests that we should build a single identity for all Indians. That is for the purpose of unity and convenience. However, realism suggests that India can be united if and only if each group identity is allowed its expression unhindered by the rules of conformance.
Hindi, for me is a language of convenience. As long it remains that way, people may choose to learn Hindi and state government could add that as a language in its curriculum. English is also a language of convenience but not to same extent as Hindu, but in addition it is also the language of opportunity.
I speak Hindi very well and many people who listen to me do not think I am from South India. I have many friends who are Hindi speaking. Not only that, I speak in Hindi with some friends who hail from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. So, definitely it is a language convenience and we need to celebrate Hindi for that. I have no problems in celebration of Hindi as language of convenience.
The problem arises when it is made a national language or is enforced as official language. And that’s what happened in the first half of century. There was an attempt to enforce it – and that backfired.
Suppose if hindi was accepted all throughout india like what our constitutional drafters anticipated, more indians would have seen the light of global knowledge today.
I don’t agree with this observation of yours. Indians need global knowledge and that is available in English. No Indian language has been modified or enhanced to take on the language of science and enlightenment. If you want to be an engineer you have to learn it in English – I am talking about realism not idealism here.
I strongly advocate education in English (while continuing to study Hindi and Telugu as language of convenience and language of one’s identity respectively). I believe that only English will emancipate the downtrodden in India. At no time I am saying that we should not speak our regional languages – I have another post on that topic where I criticize the yuppie Indians who do not even teach their kids an Indian language.
Sravan:
ReplyDeleteHindi was chosen as medium to propagate a unique identity of indian ness because it is more closer to our indian languages and majority spoken than any foreign language.
I have pondered over this. What is important, self-expression and expression of one’s group identity or unity? What is important, preservation and practice of one’s cultural heritage or conformance? I have always chosen former over the latter. Unity and conformance are not as important to me as self-expression and practice of one’s cultural heritage. We have immense diversity in this country. And preservation and celebration of diversity will keep India united. Any attempt to enforce conformance will break it up instantly.
India is not to be treated as Japan, or Italy or France where there is a much higher degree of homogeneity. And hence forceful imposition of conformance to bring out one single identity worked during those times where patriotism was considered a virtue by all societies in the world.
India is similar to Europe, a collection of many nations with distinct histories, cultures, languages and so on. Any attempt to impose conformance will instantly break up European Union. India works similarly.
As abhi said, hindi in tamilnadu was opposed on a purely political basis to curb Rajagopalchary and his dominance in tamil politics.
I tend to dismiss most arguments which are called ‘purely political’ because I believe that most issues (other than corruption, bribes, and other material transactions) always have a sympathy from the people. TRS/KCR’s Telangana agitation, no matter what anyone says, has a wide sympathy from the people. Opposition to Hindi in Tamil Nadu is not a post-Independence phenomenon. It is linked to other social movements that were already taking place in Tamil Nadu. There was a huge effort that took place to desanskritize Tamil language and that was not ‘purely political’.
Take for example of pakistan, even though Urdu was not even the majority language of Pakistan it was made official language and was propagated among everyone to bring about ethnic and cultural integrity successfully.
‘Success’ is relative. Pakistan lost Bangladesh because of that. Bangla agitation started when most coveted positions were given to people who spoke Urdu/Punjabi and not Bengali. We should learn from that. Even now, within Pakistan there is lot of friction on the language issue.
At leisure, we can discuss the consequences of such imposition of conformance/unity in other countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and other post-colonial countries.
I am happy to have cricket and Indian cinema binding Indians ;-)
I feel TAMIL/TELUGU ppl are more racist then north indians.
ReplyDeleteHere in delhi if you check population statistics then some 7 million tamils live and earn
but when it comes to TAMILNADU, they just cannot stand sight of any delhite.
I was so strange. I was shocked to see that even one guy told me that you don't let TAMILS work in Delhi therefore we don't want you here.
I think same thing apply to Bangalore. Though I never went there but this article make it very clear.
Sujay, you said South Indian languages are heavily influenced by Sanskrit. I want to add that North Indian languages are also heavily influenced by Dravidian languages. Dravidian languages borrowed the Aryan vocabulary while the Aryan languages borrowed the Dravidian grammatical structure.
ReplyDeleteहिंदी राष्ट्र की अस्मिता की भाषा है : बालशौरि रेड्डी
ReplyDeleteमैंने गांधीजी से हस्ताक्षर लेकर हिंदी सीखी। उन्होंने 21 जनवरी, 1946 को दक्षिण भारत हिंदी प्रचार सभा की रजत जयंती समारोह का उद्घाटन किया था। उन्होंने कहा था कि बहुत जल्द ही देश आजाद होने जा रहा है। आजाद भारत हिंदुस्तान की राष्ट्रभाषा हिंदी होगी। अत: में महिलाओं तथा युवाओं से अपील करता हूं कि आप लोग अभी से हिंदी सीखना आरंभ करें ताकि हिंदुस्तान का आजाद होती ही जनता की भाषा में शासन का कार्य संपन्न हो सके। गांधीजी का यह सपना आज तक हम लोग साकार नहीं कर सके।
किसी भी स्वतंत्र राष्टर का अपना संविधान, राष्ट्रध्वज, राष्ट्रगान और राष्ट्रभाषा होती है। किसी भी देश के लिए विदेशी भाषा कभी भी राष्ट्रभाषा नहीं हो सकती। जब टर्की आजाद हुआ तो कमलपाशा ने सभी अधिकारियों को बुलाकर कहा, ‘ हमारा देश स्वतंत्र हो गया है। हम तरक्की करना चाहते हैं। बताओ।” सभी ने सुझाव दिए। अंत में कमलपाशा ने कहा, ”आप लोग अपनी घड़ी देखो। इसी सैकेंड से टर्की की राजभाषा तुर्की है। जाओ काम करो।” ऐसे काम होता है।
1950 में संविधान में हिंदी को स्वीकृति मिली। यह बताया गया कि 15 वर्ष के बाद हिंदी अंग्रेजी का स्थान ग्रहण करेगी ओर हिंदी प्रशासनिक भाषा होगी। लेकिन 1963 में इसमें संशोधन हुआ कि जब तक हिंदीत्तर भाषा के तीन चौथाई सांसद स्वीकार नहीं करेंगे, तब तक ऐसा नहीं होगा। अब तो यह विवाद का विषय बन गया है।
1965 में जब लालबहादुर शास्त्री प्रधानमंत्री बने, उन्होंने सोचा कि देश के विकास के लिए पंचवर्षीय योजना क्रियांवित करते हैं, लेकिन भाषा के लिए अब तक जो प्रयास हुआ नगण्य है। उन्होंने सभी राज्यों के मुख्यमंत्रियों को दिल्ली आमंत्रित किया। तीन दिन तक गहन चर्चा हुई। इसके बाद सर्वसम्मित से प्रस्ताव पारित हुआ कि सभी राज्य त्रि-भाषा सूत्र पर अमल करेंगे। इसके अनुसार पहली भाषा के रूप में मातृभाषा, दूसरी के रूप में हिंदी और तीसरी के रूप अंग्रेजी पढ़ाई जानी थी। आंध्र, केरल और कर्नाटक में इसका अनुपालन हुआ। हरियाणा में थोड़े प्रयास हुए। उत्तर प्रदेश में तेलुगु को कुछ जगह पढ़ाया गया। लेकिन इस सूत्र पर गंभीरता से काम नहीं हुआ।
देश में रेल विभाग, वित्त विभाग, सेना आदि कई विभाग एक हैं। लेकिन शिक्षा नीति प्रदेश सरकारो के हाथ में है। वहां के शिक्षा मंत्री पाठ्यक्रम तैयार करते हैं। पूरे देश के लिए अगर एक राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति बनती तो सारे बच्चों को एक प्रकार की शिक्षा मिलती। लेकिन प्रत्येक प्रदेश में वहां के नेताओं के बारे में पढ़ाया जा रहा है। बच्चे सोचते हैं कि यही हमारी दुनिया है। हमारे बीच में एकात्मकता नहीं है। विघटन की प्रवृत्ति है। एक राष्टï्रीय शिक्षा नीति तुरंत बनाई जानी चाहिए। भले ही इसके लिए संविधान में संशोधन करना पड़ा।
हिंदी राष्ट की अस्मिता की भाषा है। मैं पहले भारतीय हूं, उसकेे बाद आंध्रवासी। मेरी मातृभाषा तेलुगु मुझे बहुत प्यारी है क्योंकि वह जन्मघूटी से सीखी हुई भाषा है। हिंदी से कम नहीं मानता और हिंदी के लिए मैं अपनी मातृभाषा की बलि देना भी नहीं चाहूंगा। लेकिन एक भारतीय के नाते संपूर्ण राष्ट के लिए हिंदी को प्रशासनिक और भारत भारती के रूप में अवश्य देखना चाहता हूं।
- तेलुगु के वरिष्ठ लेखक और चंदामामा के पूर्व संपादक
Sujai,
ReplyDeleteI quite agree with your points here. I think this can be translated to the Telangana issue too.
Basically when the interests of a minority (or an oppressed group --not necessarily a minority) are overlooked/disrespected (or in anyway discounted)in the name of unity, the oppressed group is going to fight that eventually. I believe that's exactly what's happening in Telangana.
I'm glad that's not what's happening in India as a whole. If Hindi were forced down the throats of South Indians/others whose native language is not Hindi, then it's not far-fetched to say what happened with Bangladesh and Pakistan might happen in India too.
Most of the Indians that went to school learn Hindi and English. How many of the native Hindi speakers learn another Indian language? I think it's unreasonable for native Hindi speakers to expect everyone in the country to learn to speak Hindi when they themselves can't be bothered to learn another Indian language besides their mother tongue.
Unity doesn't come from suppression of differences. Unity comes from accepting the differences and giving their rightful due.
BTW.. I'm a South Indian (Telugu/Andhra) that speaks decent Hindi and sees there's stock to the Telangana movement.
Well, people have thier own point of views. I am a north indian born and bought up in chennai. PEople should focus of being one than emphasising on culture. Culture and language is a personal preference and should be kept that way. There is no point to preach. My childhood was spent being bullied by people who thought i was different and was someone who was not from thier hood. I dont blame them for being ignorant. It only made me wise about the realities of human beings and thier nature.
ReplyDeleteYou say tamilians saved south indians... saved from whom? and what?.... if we stop making this thing a big deal and start co-existing in peace... there would be a lot less disturbances.
Western countries still laugh at us that indians cant live with each other and seldom co-operate.
I love tamil language and i love pubjabi too... but it doesnt mean one is better than the other. who the hell cares what are the languages origin is from... its just a tool us humans use to communicate... use it whatever ways it works.
Your blog is only going to anger people and create more differences... this was not a wise move at all.
Indian languages out of africa/mideast.
ReplyDeleteMan/languages had evolved from africa and got dispersed all over. This is laid out in the new book:"urdu/hindi an artificial divide--african heritage british colonialism."This began some 100,000 yrs ago. This is the state of art now. Brtish had divided the languages based on, Biblical creationism and 3 races of Noah, semitic,aryan and hamitic( black african).SKT was believed from Noahs european son Japhet, father of aryans.This mythical idea is non historical and a mpure fiction. In addition all these new names Dravidian, austric -munda, celtic etc are european created and linked to bible, which not history.
This new presents a new history of man's and language based on evolution and not Biblical or hinduic creationism/racism.These languges including SKT slowly evolved as waves of human got settlted starting some 20,000 yrs ago, as documented by DNA studies and discovries in man's oldest cradle ' Mesopotamia". Dr Malati shinde of JNU reveals that skt may have come as a branch of oldest arabic called Akkadian abt 3000 yrs ago.One can read the book on line.
DR Khan, the author
I think we should become Indian first and unite whatever it takes to.
ReplyDeleteWhole India is one and no ego maniac should be allowed to divide us on the basis of language and culture. Regarding languages of south india, they are very respectable but not spoken by majority of country men and hence the most spoken language deserves to be Rashtra bhasha. Even in north india regional languages are very different fron Hindi but everybody from rural areas learn shudh or Khadi Hindi without questioning and I think there is no harm in it. Be Indian first and do debates to find a solution and not just for the sake of arging and complexifying the issue. Again if you understood the meaning of complexifying without validating spelling and grammer then you got what a language is for that is where broadmindedness comes. People can follow gods born in different parts of India becoz they feel they are benefited by it but cant try to speak a uniting language. Thats not fare.
EXCELLENT POST!!
ReplyDeleteIt is a known fact that while south indians attempt to learn hindi, north indian DO NOT ever attempt to learn any south indian languages. Either they are too dumb to learn any other language other than hindi or they are too arrogant. Hindi might be a good language but all other indian languages are equally better. I am not dividing indians in any fashion. Indians from all parts of the country have contributed to Hindi (movies, theaters, etc..) but what have native hindi speakers done to benefit other languages. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!. When south indians go to north india they are expected to learn hindi. But when north indian come to south india, they still talk in hindi & make no attempt to learn the local language.Instead they foulmouth & make fun of the local language. They complain of how difficult it is to learn live in south india. You morons!! when you go to US OR UK you come back with a foreign accent then why can't you learn south indian languages. It is part of the glorious nation of India. Long live India!! & your ignorant northies can get out of India if you can't respect its wonderful diveersity..
Well, that's not always true. All South Indians are not like that. I am a South Indian as well, and I can speak Hindi. I used to stay in Delhi earlier, and the head of our apartment association there was also a South Indian. He used to mingle with other members and outside people in Hindi similar to a North Indian.
ReplyDeleteWhen I were in school, I had two poems in Hindi written by Subramaniam Bharti (a Tamil poet, who also wrote in Hindi). (Visit http://ramprasadbismil.blogspot.com/2010/10/yeh-hai-bharat-desh-hamara-subrahmanyam.html for more details). R Madhavan & Sumeet Raghavan, bollywood/TV actors can speak clear Hindi despite being a South Indian. There can be many more.
I am not forcing that South Indian should learn Hindi. But WHAT'S WRONG IN LEARNING IT?
Well, that's not always true. All South Indians are not like that. I am a South Indian as well, and I can speak Hindi. I used to stay in Delhi earlier, and the head of our apartment association there was also a South Indian. He used to mingle with other members and outside people in Hindi similar to a North Indian.
ReplyDeleteWhen I were in school, I had two poems in Hindi written by Subramaniam Bharti (a Tamil poet, who also wrote in Hindi). (Visit http://ramprasadbismil.blogspot.com/2010/10/yeh-hai-bharat-desh-hamara-subrahmanyam.html for more details). R Madhavan & Sumeet Raghavan, bollywood/TV actors can speak clear Hindi despite being a South Indian. There can be many more.
I am not forcing that South Indian should learn Hindi. But WHAT'S WRONG IN LEARNING IT?
Hi Guys,
ReplyDeleteI am from Bangalore and basically a Kannadiga.
Though the 'Anti-Hindi' movement happened with great extremism in Tamilnadu; during later stages other South Indian states including Karnataka supported the movement to some extent(may be to a minor extent).
Hindi is not a matter of Self-identity to South Indians. In fact, for majority of South Indians living in rural parts Hindi sounds like a Greek or a Persian to them.
So how can the imposition of Hindi on South Indians can be justified?
Instead of National unification, it's more of like a Foreign invasion to majority of the South Indians. So, their natural instinct is to rebel against such measures......
All said & done, the fact is Hindi is the most popular & most spoken language of India. Except Tamilnadu, it is quite convenient to communicate in Hindi. Be it Kerala, Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh.
ReplyDeleteThe bigger question that arises is when Keralites, Andhraites & Kannad can communicate in Hindi, Why tamilians are so reluctant to the Language? Trust, have made myself clear on the issue of arrogance.
It is as easy to teach a 30 people Telugu as teach 70 people hindi.
ReplyDeleteSo instead of making everyone learn the foreign language called hindi ( to me it is as foreign as latin) let us spend our efforts and money teaching everyone telugu.
My hindi friends are you listening?
Your article is bang on target. North Indians have never appreciated south indian languages. Wherever they go they always want hindi to be spoken. They never make an attempt to learn the regional language. South indians are expected to learn hindi when we go to North. Hindi is NOTHING SPECIAL. Right from the olden times hindi facists have tried to push hindi down the throats of all Indians. India is a wonderful country & so are all languages. Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujurati, Marathi, Bengali, & so on are all beautiful languages. Hindi fascists have sucessed in lot of areas. Example; Hindi is written in Indian passports, Coins & Notes, Railways sstation boards & announcements, Airports, Government establishments,...the list goes on. WHY SHOULD ALL INDIANS LEARN HINDI??? There is nothing great about it. Unless south india stands against Hindi domination, our culture will fade with time..
ReplyDeleteboss,
ReplyDeletewhere does brahmical hindusam impose on all people and bring local deites in brahmical hindusiam. you have any proof. fool even buddha worship all hindu gods. whether u know about tamil sangam text books. it clearly mention about vishnu, kali,varuna and indra.