Imposing Hindi appears to be a deliberate effort to undermine India’s rich linguistic diversity
- Manipulating language is akin to playing with fire. I sincerely hope that the Union government will act with the utmost prudence and justice
In 1985, a Hindu Brahmin in Tamil Nadu converted to Christianity—a change that was celebrated with great enthusiasm by Indian Christians. Shortly thereafter, a local mission organization invited him to serve as a teacher of Hinduism at their training center for field workers. The Christians expected him to adopt a non-vegetarian lifestyle; however, he was steadfast in preserving his cultural identity as a vegetarian. In a misguided attempt to change him, some even prepared an egg-white pudding and passed it off as curd. Ultimately, he withdrew from those Christians who sought to impose Western Christian cultural traditions, and with the help of a few, he established a Christian ashram where he now resides. Tamils educated through bilingual instruction are leaving an indelible mark both in India and worldwide, thereby instilling pride in the nation. In much the same way as these zealous Christians, the Union government is attempting a similar course through its new education policy. Google’s Chief Executive Officer, Sundar Pichai, had no exposure to Hindi until he attended Kharagpur for his studies—and even now, he is unable to speak it. If the Honorable Modi wishes to converse with Sundar Pichai, he must do so in English.
When India reorganized its states along linguistic lines, with the “States Reorganization Act, 1956”, speakers of Malwi, Nimadi, Bundeli, Bagheli, Gondi, and Bhili should have been granted their own states. Instead, following the British model of the Central Province, these communities were merged into the single state of Madhya Pradesh with Hindi designated as the official language. As a result, these languages have gradually faded from everyday use, and with them, unique cultural identities have been lost. Similarly, speakers of Marwari, Mewari, Dhundhari, Mewati, Shekhawati, Harauti, and Bagri should have received separate states rather than being lumped together under Rajasthan. With the introduction of the Three Languages Policy, these languages were demoted to mere dialects of Rajasthani. The Rajasthan Official Language Act of 1956 further entrenched Hindi’s dominance by establishing it as the state’s official language. As children are now educated exclusively in Hindi, Rajasthani has nearly disappeared from daily conversation, creating a Hindi-dominated belt across both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
In Uttarakhand, the ascendancy of Hindi and Sanskrit has contributed to the decline of languages such as Garhwali, Kumaoni, Jaunsari, and Gurjari. Likewise, Kurukh —primarily spoken in Jharkhand—is increasingly being supplanted by Hindi. Although many still identify culturally as Kurukh / Oraon, fluent speakers of the Kurukh / Oraon language are now rare; even Kurukh poets write in Hindi. Once the Kurukh language vanishes, so too will the distinct ethnic identity of its speakers. In contrast, the people of Chhattisgarh have preserved their heritage by retaining Chhattisgarhi as an official language. Similarly, the Kurukh community should have demanded a separate state to safeguard their cultural legacy. Furthermore, when Uttarakhand was formed in 2000 from parts of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, a separate state for the Gondi speakers could have been created by partitioning territories from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.
Imposing Hindi appears to be a deliberate effort to undermine India’s rich linguistic diversity —an initiative that aligns with the RSS agenda. For instance, just as Sanskrit was adopted as the official language in Uttarakhand, the RSS aims for Sanskrit to be the official language throughout India. The first step in this process is the imposition of Hindi. Even after the people of Tamil Nadu have clearly expressed their unwillingness to embrace Hindi, why should the Tamil Nadu government be compelled to introduce it in schools? Hindi must be taught to the children of the large number of North Indian migrants arriving in Tamil Nadu; it seems that this is precisely why Hindi is being forced upon all the people of Tamil Nadu.
When India was partitioned along religious lines, an Urdu-speaking Muslim family from Chennai migrated to East Pakistan. There, their daughter married a railway employee. Later, when that railway station manager was posted in Lahore, he left his wife at her parents’ home and went on to Lahore. Amid the chaos in Dacca during the Bangladesh Liberation War, everyone who did not speak Bengali was attacked. In that turmoil, the entire family that had migrated from Chennai to Dacca was killed. In 2005, a man living in Lahore recounted this true historical episode to me —explaining that the family that was wiped out included his wife along with the family that had migrated from Chennai to Dacca.
In 1947, religious differences partitioned India and created Pakistan; however, it was only in 1971, when the rulers from West Pakistan attempted to govern without respecting the sentiments of the Bengali people, Bangladesh emerged from Pakistan on the basis of linguistic differences. This historical narrative demonstrates just how powerful language truly is.
Manipulating language is akin to playing with fire. I sincerely hope that the Union government will act with the utmost prudence and justice.
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Published under Internatioanl Cooperation with "Sindh Courier"
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