Hindi Imposition- Revisiting History

Asit R. Panigrahi
Jul 30, 2017 · 9 min read

From the point of view of language before we can call ‘our country’ our own, it is necessary that there should be born in our hearts a love and respect for our languages“.

- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 1909

The wise can see the future and Mahatma Gandhi was aware that to unit this vast country with multiple religion, custom, races, language, caste we need a common thread between us. That’s why he was a firm believer of a National Language for the country as the binding thread. Today when we witness the Anti Hindi Imposition agitation from the streets of Karnataka to the computer screens in Odisha, one must thought was Gandhi wrong? He was never certainly. Than what went wrong? History. Let’s visit the past.

During the freedom struggle days Gandhi used to visit colleges and universities meeting students and trying to built consensus amongst them for a National Language, which would in future shape India. He chose a language called Hindustani. Reason behind choosing Hindustani was, it was a mix of Hindi and Urdu, can be written in both Devnagri and Urdu script, and the language had the characteristic of inclusion and expansion like the English. Opposition came from Madras and Bengal Presidencies. Sooner, Bengal Presidency understood the importance but things turn into nightmare in Madras. Later, just days before his death, Mahatma wrote in Harijan that India needs a common language and it should be Hindustani. A language which should not be Sanskritised Hindi or Farsi heavy Urdu and should includes common words from every other language spoken in India

In 1937 the then Chief Minister of Madras Presidency and Congress stalwart C. Rajagopalachari introduced compulsory Hindi teaching in schools. The move ignited the Dravidian nationalism and the ages old Dravidian-Aryan conflict. Protest took ugly turns and soon it became a violent agitation of masses. Two innocent lives were lost, thousands injured, Hundreds were arrested. Due to this massive protest, which the Congress government in their wildest dreams could have never thought of, shook the entire state and the Rajaji government resigned for this failure after a year in 1939. The British authority withdrew the notification in 1940 and things went to normal. But, till when?

The question of a common language for the new state stormed the country even before we became a republic. In 1946 at the second sitting of the Constituent Assembly the language of the Nation stormed in to debate. Demand was to make Hindustani the National and sole official language. The Hindi supporters even went to the extent by saying “People who do not know Hindustani have no right to stay in India.” Sounds familiar today also. Nevertheless, the matter was buried under the carpet and the drafting committee started writing the fate of the nation in English and Hindustani- the language which was fully supported by Nehru. By 1947 the constituent assembly came to an understanding that the Official Language of India should be Hindustani in Devnagri script. They wanted to make it the National Language, but history had something else for them in its closet. Things were going smoothly for Hindustani and then Pakistan happened. Soon after independence Pakistan declared Urdu as its National Language. That was enough to ignite the Hindi Nationalism in the Country.

British did not only divide people of India on religious grounds but it was for them the languages were also divided between Hindu and Muslim. Urdu was seen as Islamic and Hindus claimed the copyright over Hindi. Thereafter, people stated to paint the languages on religious color. Hindi was started to become more Sanskritised and Urdu became more Farsi. It was done with intent to draw a distinct difference. Killers of languages were succeeded.

So, when Pakistan declared Urdu as its National Language the Right Wing in India demanded a language that is untouched by Islamic Urdu as the National Language. Those were the days when Left and Right wings of politics were not in the copyright of any one single party. They started to push for Hindi as the National Language and not the Urdu mix Hindustani. Soon after in the meeting of Congress it was decided that the Drafting Committee should replace Hindustani with Hindi. The recommendation was sent to the Committee, which in turn agreed to it as Congress had the majority in the assembly. The Constitution was translated in Hindi by the famous linguist and member of the assembly Raghu Vira. After going through the drafts in Hindi Nehru said that he was unable to understand a single thing as it was so much Sanskritised. In November 1948 the Drafting Committee proposed Hindi as the National Language with Devnagri as the official script. This led to a division in the country which India had never thought of.

Dravidian Movement was on crest those days in the Southern part of the Country. The Dravid Kazhagam led by Periyar was violently protesting the compulsory Hindi in schools. Many nationalist leaders of the Congress Party in Madras also started supporting the demands of Periyar and Annadurai. This led to a mass student agitation. In the Dravidian land Hindi was always seen as a symbol of Aryan invasion. It sparked the demand of Dravidanadu. From protesting against Hindi, they started demanding a new Country. In his maiden speech in Rajya Sabha 1962, Annadurai demanded a separate country but later, his party pledged support to India in the Sino-India war. Thanks to the 16th amendment to the Constitution in 1963 the Dravid parties were forced to leave the demand of Dravidanadu.

Back in 1948 when the Drafting Committee decided to make Hindi the National Language, Tiruvellore Thattai Krishnamachari the then member of the Constituent Assembly and the yet to be made Finance Minister of India, warned the members of the Assembly about the separatist demand and radicalization on the issue of Hindi. Decades later his words are still relevant. When the southern part of the country was put on flame and a separatist movement was started on the issue of Hindi Imposition, people who were supporters of Hindi as National Language also started raising their concern about the issue. Everyone was of the thought this can hamper the integration of India except the Hindi Flag bearers. The Hindi supporters were hell-bent on making Hindi the National and only language of the Country and they were in no mood to settle for anything less than it. The constituent assembly and the Country as a whole were in dilemma. Just after independence the country was divided on two parts. The country was witnessing Anti-Hindi protests in South and Pro Hindi Protests in North.

At this worried juncture of history when the country was in making, the constituent assembly thought it proper to solve the problem of language at the earliest. A committee was formed to put forth the solution and the Munshi- Ayyangar formula named after KM Munshi and N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar came into existence. According to that formula Article 343 for the Official Language was inserted. The idea of a National language was dropped and Hindi with Devnagri script was adopted as the official language of the union and international form of Indian numerical were adopted as the official form of numerical. Further English was allowed to be continued as the additional official language for a period of fifteen years. This was with the intent to enable Non-Hindi speaking people to learn and adopt the language. The adoption of English as official language along with Hindi was heavily criticized by pro-Hindi politicians like Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee, who demanded that Hindi should be made National language. As the days passed by the Anti-Hindi agitation especially in Southern parts grew stronger. In the 1950s DMK continued its anti-Hindi policies along with the secessionist demand for Dravidanadu. On 28 January 1956, Annadurai along with Periyar and Rajaji signed a resolution passed by the Academy of Tamil Culture endorsing the continuation of English as the official language.

While the Country was approaching its fifteenth year of republic riots broke upon in Tamil Nadu as the D-Day 26th January 1965 was approaching. On that day English as an official language was supposed to cease and Hindi was ready to take over the realm. Just days before it could have happened riots broke out in Madurai and took no time to engulf the whole state. 70 died including 2 police officers as per official reports, unofficial sources claimed more than hundreds lives. Tamilnadu was on fire and so does the other neighboring states. Lal Bahadur Shastri rose to the occasion as a statesman. The union Government declared English to be the official language along with Hindi as long as the Non-Hindi speaking people of the county wants. Later on in 1967 Indira Gandhi made amendments to the Official Language Act 1963 and guarantee use of English as an official language for an indefinite period.

Coming back to the present, history is repeating itself. The gulf between Hindi and Non-Hindi is widening day by day. Using of the official language in any official work is seen as Hindi Imposition. Is it really a Hindi Imposition? As per constitution we have two official languages in India Hindi and English so there is no harm or illegality in using Hindi in official billboards. But, than when the government seems like overboard for Hindi it gives a worrying picture.

Pertinent is the party in power at Delhi, the RSS-BJP. That is what igniting this debate. Though the party is doing no wrong in linguistic area, but their passive push for Hindi is damaging the social cord of India. RSS is always known for Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan and they were regarded as the party of Hindi heartland until they broke the barriers of Bindhya recently in Karnataka. RSS was on forefront in demanding Hindi as the National Language at the time of drafting of the Constitution. In subsequent years they never hide their intentions of making Hindi the National Language. All these are making people suspicious of the Government intent for Hindi imposition. Be it the case of new currency notes having numerical in Devnagri or the Case of Bengaluru Metro.

Making things worst are the social media linguistic warriors. Both the fraction is leaving no stone unturned to showcase their hatred towards the other. It is the time when the central government should come into play before it is too late. Why not make it compulsory to use Hindi-English and the state language (as the case may be) for every official work? By this not only the constitution but the sentiments of the people will also be respected. The pro-Hindi crusaders should remember that Hindi is not the National Language, it is the Official language and there is a difference. They should understand the intent of legislature, the thinking of the fathers of the constitution. They must realize why our constitution does not provide a national language. On the other hand the Non-Hindi agitators also should remember Hindi is the Official language and according to the Constitution Article 344 the government is bound to promote Hindi. As such promotion of Hindi should not be in any manner seen as Hindi Imposition. But, than remember the words of the Mahatma “Respect every language.”

Moreover, the government and the pro-Hindi people should also realize what history taught us the unfortunate incidents when Hindi was forcibly imposed in the garb of promotion. This single issue of language once drove India to the verge of another partition. And the BJP for political interest should remember after 1967 due to this love for Hindi, Congress never returns to power in Tamilnadu.

It is time to strike a chord of unity and harmony between the Hindi and Non-Hindi. This matter should not be delayed in addressing. Language is regarded as mother and everyone is emotionally attached to it. The government should handle it with utmost care and urgency. Else, we had seen a division in the past and god forbids we might see a next.

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Lawyer, poet, blogger, Someday may be an author

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