THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 21 September 2019 (Being mindful of diversity (The Hindu))

Being mindful of diversity (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 1 : Society
Prelims level : Not much
Mains level : Three-Language Formula implications

Context

• Recently Indian Home Minister’ statement of Hindi being the language to unite India has faced criticism. The statement brings out the debate of the language to be used for unification, the need for a unifying language and the implications of adopting one.
• As per the 2011 Census, 1369 languages are spoken as mother tongues in India and Hindi is only one of them. The Indian Constitution itself has given space for 22 languages in its 8th Schedule and has thus upheld language diversity.
• In this context, it is necessary to understand the arguments in favour and against the statement, 4 implications of language debate in relation to the Three-Language Formula.

Arguments in favour of Hindi as a unifying language:

• For better integration and communication, a single language is needed.
• It helps to lesser conflicts.

Arguments against Hindi as a unifying language:

• The languages which try to expand beyond capacity start being used less and less as has happened Latin, Sanskrit etc and thus if it is opined to preserve Hindi, it is better not to expand it beyond its capacity is suggested.
• The idea of ‘One nation, one language, one culture’ has caused a lot of bloodshed in many nations of the world.
• India is united in its diversity and the options for language should only increase as knowledge of a greater number of languages helps in better communication worldwide and thus making the nations of the world a single integrated pluralistic community.
• A loss of importance of a given language is a loss of economy and not only loss of cultural identity as there is loss of livelihood associated with the communication.
• Repeated dent in emotions of people by invoking division on the basis of opinions can lead to an actual division of state itself as in the 1970s, West and East Pakistan were divided on the basis of language only.
• According to a recent study by IITians using machine-learning, ‘knowledge of English’ and ‘Internet access’ turned out to be the most significant skills required that determine wages in five slums of Bengaluru.

Implications in relation to Three-Language Formula:

• It is suggested that English should be taught in schools as a language and should not be the medium of instruction. Gradually the medium of instruction should be changed from mother tongue to English.
• As part of the three language formula, children of Hindi speaking states were required to learn a non-Hindi language and those of non-Hindi speaking states had to learn Hindi. But it was disagreed from both the sides.
• It is also suggested that a child in her early ages should not be forced to learn many languages as the child at that age is meant to know the world better and learning new languages at middle age help in widening her horizon.

Way forward

• Tribal languages must be prevented from getting extinct by providing livelihood in by the use of those languages.
• To integrate India on the basis of a single language, the language used must gain the status to be accepted equally by North and South India.
• There must be no urge felt for a unifying language as India is unified by a shared history like that of Ashoka etc. and thus the state needs to be mindful of linguistic diversity.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) Which of the following statements correctly describes the concept of cloud seeding?
(a) It is an artificial way to induce moisture in the clouds so as to cause rainfall.
(b) It is a way to store sensitive information on the cloud servers using cryptography.
(c) It is a method to ensure uninterrupted satellite communication in cloudy weather conditions.
(d) It is a process to increase the efficiency of solar energy generation in cloudy weather conditions.

Answer: A
Mains Questions:
Q.1) Promoting greater use of Hindi is fine, but the language of homogenisation is best avoided. Critically examine.