LANGUAGE IN INDIA

LANGUAGE NEWS THIS MONTH
Welcome More Languages to the Constitution Club
And Other Matters

1. 100TH CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT

The Constitution (One-Hundredth Amendment) Bill, 2003 passed by both the houses of the Parliament widened the berth to include Bodo, Santali, Maithili, and Dogri in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution taking the number of official languages to 22. One would never have expected this development in the past. From the reports we read in the newspapers the Amendment was passed with overwhelming acceptance from all. Mr. Advani has assured members to bring a comprehensive legislation to include more languages in the Eighth Schedule after consulting experts and linguists. In his estimate, there is demand for the inclusion of 35 more languages. As it is there is demand for inclusion of 35 more languages including several dialects of Hindi like Rajasthani, Bhojpuri and Brij Bhasha," he said.

2. AMAZING CHANGES

Amazing changes have taken place in the political scene as regards the recognition and use of Indian languages. To quote the newsitem that was published in THE HINDU, "Mr. Advani said the Constitution Amendment to include Bodo was brought in as part of the memorandum of settlement between Bodos, Assam Government and the Centre. Santhali language was included to keep the balance as it is a widely spoken language by another tribal group in the area. Regarding a demand for substituting English with any other Indian language, he said for the unity of the country it was necessary that both English and Hindi co-exist. "National unity is more important than language issue," he said, adding that de-linking from English was not a good thing as India had its advantages in Information Technology sector over China because of the knowledge of English." Very remarkable, indeed!

3. WISDOM OF OUR PARLIAMENTARIANS

Some interesting and insightful comments of the parliamentarians include the following:

L.M. Singhvi (BJP): While the intention was not to reduce the impact or acceptability of Hindi by including more languages in the Eighth Schedule, let there not be a feeling that only when people demonstrate or take to the streets they were heard. He said that he had been campaigning for inclusion of Rajasthani since 1962.
1. Rama Shankar Kaushik (SP): The Government should differentiate between "Bhasaha aur Boli'' (Language and dialect). "If you cease to differentiate between language and dialect, you will end up reducing the status of Hindi as the official language and that will create tension on the basis of language.''
2. Laloo Prasad Yadav (RJD): The inclusion of a language or dialect in the Eighth Schedule should be done carefully and comprehensively so that there was no dispute on the medium of examinations, finding teachers, programmes on radio and television.
3. Arjun Singh (Congress): The Government should be cautious in not creating circumstances when dialects became language and a language gets disintegrated.
4. Viduthalai Virumbi (DMK): Hindi is not a "majority language." The official language of a State should be included as one of the official languages of the country.
5. Amar Singh (SP): I respect Tamil but to oppose Hindi is not correct.
6. Janeshwar Mishra (SP): No Indian language could flourish as long as recognition was given to English remained.

4. LURKING FEARS AND SUSPICION

Interesting arguments, and some lurking fears both in the minds of the pro-Hindi and anti-Hindi leaders! We hope to get a copy of the debates on this amendment in both the Houses soon and analyze the scenario in these columns!

We need to wait and see how the Mandarins in the ministries such as Home Affairs, Human Resource (Education), and Law will put the amendment into practice and how the politicians on the ground in Hindi-speaking states will interpret the amendment. This is only the beginning.

5. HELPING THE BLIND: THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY

In a recent gathering in Chennai, several interesting suggestions were offered to help the blind to find jobs, and a place of honor in our society. The occasion was a function organized by a voluntary organization called Vidya Vrikshah. Speakers urged that teaching for the blind should move away from the traditional system implemented in special schools to a more technology-based system that could be applied even in regular schools. It was suggested, "Only then can the visually impaired become more productive citizens." Caregivers with sight were urged to learn the Braille system. "Any literate person can learn Braille in a short time with the ready reckoner and teach it to their child at home." Class text and reading material in local languages could also be converted to Braille using a special software developed by the Indian Institute of Technology, which when printed out using a Braille printer would be of great assistance to the visually impaired. At the high school level, the said visually impaired students could make use of the voice activated system. Efforts are on to convert voice text into Braille in a selected local language, the organizer said. The `National Initiative for the Blind' is a good document with good intent, but many states are yet to adopt this and implement the suggestions.

Prime Ministers of India always had a special place for the handicapped. Indira Gandhi's initiative led the establishment of several national institutes for the physically, mentally, linguistically, and visually challenged people in India. Awards apart, the government needs to encourage business and industrial corporations to get involved to meet the needs of visually handicapped. Studies on the language use of the visually handicapped are an area that still needs to be explored extensively in India. Why can't the students of linguistics show some interest in such useful areas of research?

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