Image used for representational purpose only. (Express illustration)
BENGALURU: Renowned historian Prof A Karunanandan said that the imposition of Hindi as the official language would create two segments of Indians. He was speaking at a webinar organized by the All India Save Education Committee (AISEC), on ‘The imposition of Hindi as a sole official language and medium of instruction and removal of English’. He said English had aided the country in opposing British rule, as opposed to any Indian language.
“English brings more benefits to the people of India than any other language spoken in India at present. There were no national movements through Sanskrit or Hindi, the national movement was built using English. If Hindi is made the sole official language, then it will create two segments in Indian society, and the majority of non-Hindi speaking people will face a disadvantage.
Our Constitution recognizes us as a multilingual union,” he said. Jadhavpur University professor Tarun Kanti Naskar called the report presented by the Official Language Committee “unconstitutional”. “Though the British brought English to India, English also opened the floodgates of development of scientific temperament, Renaissance thinking and helped our national movement. We would not have got thinkers and personalities like Vidyasagar, Vivekananda, and many more without English. Now, the government's attitude to remove English will move our students away from real knowledge and education,” he said.
Renowned linguist and cultural activist Dr Ganesh N Devy said the question of making Hindi the sole official language should not arise, especially as 70 percent of the Indian population is non-Hindi speakers. “Germany and Italy, which emerged as monolingual countries, had to face fascistic regimes. On the other hand, India respected all languages in the freedom movement,” he said.
