LANGUAGE IN INDIA

LANGUAGE NEWS THIS MONTH
SINDH IN THE NATIONAL ANTHEM, FEDERAL POLITY, LINGUISTIC ISLANDS, ETC.

REMOVE SINDH FROM THE NATIONAL ANTHEM? HOW ABOUT ADDING CALIFORNIA TO THE ANTHEM FOR A CHANGE?

There is an interesting case filed before the Supreme Court and the honorable judges have decided in their wisdom to hear this case. The case relates to the retention of the word sindh in the Indian National Anthem. Mr. Sanjeev Bhatnagar, who filed this case before the court, claims that the continued retention of the word in the anthem is an infringement of the sovereignty of Pakistan, wherein lies the territory of Sindh. Moreover, he claims that the continued use of this word in the anthem hurts the feelings of the people of India: how can we praise a territory that is not ours and is in another country in our National Anthem? Good neighborly relations would require that we quietly drop the word from our anthem. Moreover, if the name of a foreign territory is retained, may be the next step is that because of the multitude of computer programmers employed in the United States and because of the cash-rich Indian software companies that do business with the United States, the state of Washington, which perhaps is the Mecca of computing, or California where the Silicon Valley is located, may be surreptitiously inserted, he seems to aver. When we consider the power wielded by the software giants and the display of wealth of the individuals in the software industry, etc., perhaps there may be some truth in his arguments! I am just kidding!

Fortunately for people like you and I who love the elements of Sindhi civilization in the Indian nation, the mandarins in the ministries of law and home affairs seem to have suddenly risen to the occasion. The news reports indicated "that any move to delete the word "Sindh" from the National Anthem or making any alteration at this juncture would not only distort but also destroy the Anthem itself" (THE HINDU). The second reason suggested by the government of India is that "the National Anthem is a highly emotive issue; any alteration/substitution in the Anthem will not only distort but also almost destroy the Anthem and may unnecessarily give rise to more controversies." (THE HINDU).

GURUDEV TO OUR HELP!

Naturally other arguments included how the Gurudev Rabindranath composed the poem carefully placing words in their proper place, etc. The argument is sound in many respects. Apart from this, the idea of "Gurudev" is also firmly recognized in the court documents. Let us not deprive him of this title, since we've already deprived him of his medallion! But then there will be agitations to call and recognize the leading poets of other Indian languages as Gurudev as well.

One may never know the real reason which prompted Mr. Bhatnagar to file this case in the Supreme Court. What is the Supreme Court going to decide on his plea to substitute Kashmir in the place of Sindh in the Anthem?

LET US CELEBRATE SINDHI!

In the history of the Indian subcontinent, Sindh has played a very important role, and occasionally it was and is a thorn in the flesh of some. Although Sindhis of India are fewer in number when compared with the populations of other major languages, their contribution nevertheless to the making of Modern India is substantial. Why, then, unnecessarily hurt the feeling of this great community which already was subjected to a lot of suffering because of the partition of India? A national anthem is not a geographical description of a nation. It is much more than that.

FEDERATION OR UNION?

India proposes to host an international meet on Federalism in 2007 or 2008. And this will be the Fourth International Conference on Federalism. The Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office claimed that India is the largest Federal structure in the world. One may differ from his assertion. While India is a Union, the tendency has always been to emphasize the aspects of the Union of the nation. In Education, the Union is fast assuming greater powers, reducing the States to almost nothing. In Civil services, services of the Union override the services of the States. It is the Union that seconds its personnel to the higher positions in the State governments. The institution of the governor is yet another symbol of the overarching influence and power of the Union, but their salaries are paid by the poor States. In the domain of judiciary, higher judiciary is more or less a part of the Union, and not of the States. In the name of protecting and preserving the linguistic rights of the minority, the Union appears to expand its domain of influence in every field, cutting down the legitimate rights of the States.

It is only the emergence of the multiparty governments both at the Centre and States that somewhat checks and restrains the ever expanding horizons of the Union. There is a need for greater delimitation and decentralization of powers. But such needs are recognized only in Commission reports, and no ruling party or coalition has really made any serious attempt at decentralization. That is not good for the health of the country, nor is it good for the people of India. Clearly the concept of nationhood is at stake here. The emerging all-India middle classes with greater mobility in the cities relish the powers of the Union whereas the far-flung rural masses suffer under this arrangement.

LINGUISTIC ISLANDS IN INDIAN CITIES

A report by Marcus Dam in THE HINDU dated the March 1 was both amusing and sad. N. Raja who speaks only Tamil met with an accident in the fringes of Kolkata City and was hospitalized in a well-known government hospital, Nil Ratan Sircar Hospital. No one could communicate with him because there was none who could speak in Tamil, of all places in a hospital in Kolkata! For two long weeks he and his caregivers were "speechless." Finally help was found through the good offices of a non-governmental organization and the local Tamil Sangam.

The deputy superintendent of the hospital confessed, "We have learnt from the experience and the staff have been instructed to inform the higher authorities in the event of the admission of an unknown patient with whom communication is difficult..."

This is not an unusual situation in any part of India, when it is applied to not only individuals but also to linguistic communities. We have quarters within every city wherein people live for even generations without knowing how to speak and understand the dominant regional language. Personally I was shocked when socio-linguistics researchers at the Central Institute of Indian Languages in Mysore reported years ago that there are substantial linguistic populations such as those speaking Urdu or Tamil in the City of Mysore who live in concentrated areas within the city without knowing how to speak and understand Kannada. Often we seem to forget the real complexity and beauty of our linguistic situation.

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