Is the 1950s linguistic regionalism hurting India’s growth story in an increasing globalized world order?

X: @prashanthamine

Mumbai: At a time when the economy is increasingly becoming more globalized, a section of our politicians and leaders seem to harp on the outdated 1950s linguistic regionalism in the hope that it will reap them rich electoral dividends. The modern increasingly interdependent globalized world order demands more pragmatic solutions, than mere blind rhetorical opposition that is retrograde also.

Be it prominent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Suresh @Bhaiyyaji Joshi recent remarks on Gujarati language in Mumbai, or Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader M K Stalin’s opposition to the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) on the grounds of perceived imposition of Hindi on Southern State’s, both their remarks and actions seem to be not in sync with the realities of the modern world.

The TN CM has even gone a step further in replacing the Rupee ₹ symbol with his own currency symbol of Ru. That is in direct contravention of The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act of 1950 and the National Flag and State Emblem Act of 2005. Ironically, the Rupee ₹ symbol was designed by the son of a former DMK MLA N Dharmalingam’s son Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam, and professor at IIT Guwahati.

Despite being the senior most and erudite leader of the RSS, the moment of fallacy for Suresh @Bhaiyyaji Joshi when he remarked that each part of Mumbai has a different language and that Ghatkopar area’s language is Gujarati. It was a needless comment to make and one that could seriously backfire politically on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the impending elections to civic bodies like the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Thane and some more in the increasingly  cosmopolitan Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

Come civic elections especially in Mumbai or Thane, the oft harped bogey that is raked up is that the government in power is hell-bent on breaking Mumbai away from Maharashtra and that the Marathi Manoos is being driven out of the metropolis. The classic template of electoral politics has served well for regional political parties until now.

But nobody bothers to ask the champions of the Marathi Manoos card as to why the average middle class Marathi Manoos was forced to migrate out of the metropolis into the hinterlands of the MMR? What happened to the 40 lakh affordable housing scheme for slum dwellers of 1995-99? A scheme that is widely perceived to have benefitted the builder lobby and increased illegal slums in MMR. Instead the scheme only increased the migration of people not just from other parts of Maharashtra, but also from other parts of India as well and forcing the native Marathi Manoos further out into the hinterlands.

Neither is anyone bothered to ask as to why Marathi medium schools are closing down in Mumbai and in major cities of Maharashtra. Not to speak of the pathetic condition of government and civic body run schools not just in Maharashtra, but across the country.

The side-effects of linguistic regionalism had perplexed K M Munshi and N Gopalaswami Ayyangar in 1949, often described as builders of modern India and proponents of the Official Language policy. The two had mooted the two official language policy on September 14, 1949 during the Constituent Assembly debates held to draft the new Constitution of India.

As per the Munshi-Ayyangar formula, English was supposed to be used first for five years, till Hindi took root as the official language of the union after which English was to be phased out. Later on it was extended by another decade, 15 years to be precise. However, the intended purpose of making Hindi as the official language of the union still remains a distant pipedream.

Thereafter 22 official languages were added to the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution which consists of the following languages:- (1) Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Gujarati, (4) Hindi, (5) Kannada, (6) Kashmiri, (7) Konkani, (8) Malayalam, (9) Manipuri, (10) Marathi, (11) Nepali, (12) Oriya, (13) Punjabi, (14) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) Tamil, (17) Telugu, (18) Urdu (19) Bodo, (20) Santhali, (21) Maithili and (22) Dogri.

Interestingly enough, as per the 2011 Census of the 22 official languages, the top 12 official languages in terms of speakers/mother tongue are as follows – Hindi 52,83,47,193 Cr, Bengali 9,72,37,669 Cr, Marathi 8,30,26,680 Cr, Telugu 8,11,27,740 Cr, Tamil 6,90,26,881 Cr, Gujarati 5,54,92,554 Cr, Urdu 5,07,72,631 Cr, Kannada 4,37,06,512 Cr, Oriya 3,75,21,324 Cr, Malayalam 3,48,38,819 Cr, Punjabi 3,31,24,726 Cr and Assamese 1,53,11,351 Cr.

Of the 35 States and Union Territories, the top 12 States having maximum number of people identified as having Other Language as their mother tongue or spoken language as per 2011 Census is as follows – Madhya Pradesh 53,46,289 Lakh, Maharashtra 50,80,878 Lakh, Rajasthan 36,74,618 Lakh, Jharkhand 32,53,822 Lakh, Odisha 32,32,314 Lakh, Meghalaya 25,32,132 Lakh, Chhattisgarh 23,82,646 Lakh, Assam 22,52,615 Lakh, Karnataka 21,54,853 Lakh, Manipur 11,93,592 Lakh, Tripura 11,10,278 Lakh and Gujarat 10,59,630 Lakh.

On October 3, 2024, the Union Government granted Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali languages the status of Classical Language. Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia were earlier accorded the status of Classical Language taking that total to 11 Classical Languages.

The beauty of our rich linguistic diversity can be gauged from the fact that as per the 2011 census, the raw number of mother tongues was totaled at 19,569 of which 1,369 were later rationalized as mother tongues. There are a total 270 identifiable mother tongues of which 121 languages are sub-categorised into 22 scheduled languages and 99 languages as non-scheduled languages as per the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

Not satisfied by the two official language formula mooted by Munshi and Ayyangar, days later on September 17, 1949, C N Annadurai broke away from Dravidar Kazhagam founded by Periyar. The subsequent violent agitations over the issue forced the Union Government to enact The States Reorganisation Act in 1956, based on the recommendations of the State Reorganisation Commission report of 1955. The states of the union were reorganized along linguistic lines, creating 14 states and 6 union territories by 1960’s. 

Thereafter, the D S Kothari Commission of 1964-66 came up with the Three Language Formula (TLF) which continues till today.

Three Language Formula (TLF) broke-up the academic curriculum into four groupings. Imparting education in one’s mother tongue was provided for between Class I to Class X. Between Class VIII to Class X, the student is expected to opt for either of the two official languages – Hindi or English. Between Class X to Class XII the student was now free to learn any modern Indian or Foreign language.

The 1964-66 TLF was as follows – Class I to Class IV – Mother tongue, Class V to Class VII – Mother tongue, plus one Official Language (Hindi/English), Class VIII to Class X – Mother tongue, plus one Official Language (Hindi/English), one Language not covered in first 2 options, Class X to Class XII – Any 2 studied earlier, Modern language, one Classical Indian Language or Foreign language, Modern Foreign Language.

Thereafter, subsequent Union Government’s did make an attempt to find a solution to the vexed issue. The Ashok Pahwa Committee submitted its report in 1996, the Sitakant Mohapatra Committee report came in 2003 and the National Curriculum Framework (NCF- 05) was announced in 2005. Neither of them offered any real time solution to the official and regional language issue.

At present there are five main education boards in India – CBSE, ICSE, IB, NIOS and AISSCE. Each has different curricula and methods of learning, assessment criteria, and boards for conducting tests. Besides, these respective states have their own state boards. Given the rapid pace of globalization and urbanization in most states the country badly needs a new uniform national education policy be it the National Education Policy 2020 – NEP 2020, that addresses the needs of globalization.

According to actor turned Janasena Party founder and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Konidela Pawan Kalyan argues that NEP 2020 does offer the flexibility to learn any two Indian languages (including their mother tongue) along with a foreign language. He further adds that if the students do not wish to study Hindi they can also opt for any of the other of the 22 Official Languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

Moreover, the beauty of our culturally, linguistically and ethnically diverse country like ours is that a language dialect in a particular state itself undergoes significant change from one region to another.

According to Linguists, Linguist Anthropologists, Educationists and medical experts, the best medium of education for a child in its formative growth years is its mother tongue. The other regional, national and foreign languages can follow thereafter.

Even during the reign of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and other princely rulers, their courts did have ministers, regents or officers who were well versed or understood languages like Persian, English, Arabic, French, Spanish or even Dutch. That was the need of those times, as India as since the times of the Indus valley civilization had trade ties with faraway lands in Mesopotamia, South-East Asia and beyond.

The same situation of ancient times now presents itself in a globalized order. These days for economic and employment reasons, people have to migrate to places outside their own native places. Knowing the language and culture of that region always helps one in assimilating in that new territory. Today being proficient in more than one language is becoming an asset, thereby increasing one’s chances of employability.

Unfortunately in a recent incident, a staffer of one of the Mobile Telecom company in Mumbai refused to entertain conversation in Marathi. There have been instances in the past of migrant labourers and migrants from other parts of the country having been at the receiving end for their refusal to communicate in Marathi or the local language of that state.

Interestingly enough, in the North-Eastern states of India where tribal dialects and mother tongues change every region to region, people now are adopting Hindi as the means of communicating with each other. Another interesting counter-argument to the anti-Hindi lobby from South India is that while some in the Southern Film Industry might oppose the so-called imposition of Hindi, they won’t have any qualms in having their films dubbed in Hindi so that they make more profits at the Box Office.

Actor and Andhra Pradesh DCM Pawan Kalyan argues that his Janasena Party stands by the principle of linguistic freedom and educational choice for every Indian. “The multi-language policy is designed to empower students with choice, promote national unity, and preserve India’s rich linguistic diversity”, remarked Pawan Kalyan while defending NEP 2020.