Editorial: Avoidable row

As if the ongoing controversies over Hijab, Azaan and Hanuman Chalisa are not enough, another row has erupted over the perceived linguistic supremacy of Hindi. This is a totally avoidable controversy in a country that celebrates pluralism and diversity in all aspects. Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn stirred a hornet’s nest by tweeting that Hindi alone […]

As if the ongoing controversies over Hijab, Azaan and Hanuman Chalisa are not enough, another row has erupted over the perceived linguistic supremacy of Hindi. This is a totally avoidable controversy in a country that celebrates pluralism and diversity in all aspects. Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn stirred a hornet’s nest by tweeting that Hindi alone qualifies to be treated as a national language. This has revived the simmering friction between the South and North over the repeated attempts to claim a pre-eminent status for Hindi. In the light of union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent remarks implying the dominance of Hindi, the actor’s observations ended up adding fuel to the fire. What started off as a Twitter exchange between Devgn and Kannada actor Kichcha Sudeep took a political turn, dragging two former chief ministers HD Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah into the spat. There is suspicion, justifiably so, among a section of non-Hindi speaking people from the South and Northeast that the Centre wants to impose Hindi as a national language, thus relegating their own mother tongues to the third spot behind English and Hindi, In Southern States where people are proud of their language and culture, any attempt to impose linguistic hegemony could ignite passions. India does not have not an official national language and the States can adopt one or more of the 22 languages listed in the Constitution’s Eighth Schedule. As the hashtag ‘HindiIsNotNationalLanguage’ trended on Twitter, the Hindi supremacists must realise that India’s core identity is linked to its linguistic diversity.

By claiming that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English and that it is the only language that unites the country, Amit Shah has revived the old wounds on this contentious issue. The BJP leader would be well advised to desist from stoking divisions that have long been addressed and assimilated as part of India’s national identity. Promoting a language that advantages one set of Indians over others is a recipe for division over diversity. It is fallacious to equate uniformity with unity. In fact, any attempt to impose uniformity will undermine India’s unity. The imposition of Hindi would be a great disservice to the youth who have global aspirations. The three-language formula should not be tinkered with at any cost. Instead of imposing one language on the country, it is time we celebrated linguistic diversity. It was to the credit of the enormous wisdom of the framers of the Constitution that all other languages, along with Hindi, were accorded the official language status. Since Hindi is limited to a geographic region, the makers of our Constitution adopted the pragmatic approach of retaining it just as one of the many official languages.

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