Much ado about language (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2 : Polity
Prelims level : Hindi Diwas
Mains level : Provision of the official languages and Rajyabhasa

Context

• It all starts with the department of Hindi in the Central government, which has been given the responsibility of spreading Hindi across the country.
• It recruits only those who have done an MA in Hindi. It is officially called “Rajbhasha Vibhag” and is under the control of the home ministry.
• No effort is made to recruit MAs in English to help out in drafting laws, rules, regulations and directives from the government in a comprehensible language.

Absence of English language

• In the absence of an English rajbhasha vibhag, the language of the laws of India remains incomprehensible, even to those who draft it.
• The intention behind the law may be good but, frequently, it requires the wisdom of the honourable courts of justice to make sense of whatever was written in the law.
• The latest such example concerns the historic law, written in English, which the Parliament discussed in August, to partially modify Article 370.
• It was full of horrific spelling and grammatical mistakes. It took almost a month for the government to issue a corrected version of the law which Parliament had passed.
• Central government offices, in non-Hindi areas, also have a “Hindi” officer, once again an MA in Hindi, whose sole task is to promote the Hindi language within that office.
• In many such offices, where the Hindi officer is a bit conscientious, there is also a Hindi board, alongside the one which announces the name, address and phone number of the officer to contact in case of corruption complaints.
• The corruption board is some sort of a quasi statutory thing because of directions from the Central Vigilance Commissioner.
• The Hindi board is more of a voluntary effort. The offices of the Panjab University, for example, have no such Hindi board.

Historical consequences

• In the mid-1960s, when Gulzarilal Nanda was the home minister, it even resulted in riots in many parts of the country when he announced, in 1965, the departure of the English language from government and the arrival of Hindi as the official language of governance in India.
• The anti-Hindi riots in south Indian cities used to be paralleled by anti-English riots in the markets of Bihar, UP and Madhya Pradesh.
• The eagerness to burn property was common to both sets of rioters. There was no reported desire to learn any language.
• A language, after all, is a device for communication between people.
• This is a point that we need to remember, always.
• As in the case of the Phonepe advertisement, and in the context of the annual war that erupts in India because someone in the government promises to impose Hindi on everyone else, the point is simply this:
• There has to be a strong reason to learn a language. Otherwise, no one other than the learned types are willing to waste time learning a new language.
• In the past, a common Indian was said to know at least three languages. Most Indians, even today, do. Mahatma Gandhi knew five. Narasimha Rao, knew as many as 10 languages.

Conclusion

• As for the language of Bharat Sarkar, whether it uses Hindi or English, there is an urgent need for it to appoint a “Simple Language Commission”.
• No rule, law, directive should be issued by the government unless it is written in a simple, commonsensical language with no convolutions and legalese.
• The one that even a 10th-pass can comprehend, which by the way is 90 per cent of the all the workers in the organised and unorganised sector in India.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) Which of the following have been given Geographical Indication (GI) Tag?
1. Banaganapalle Mangoes
2. Etikoppaka Toys
3. Kadaknath Chicken
4. Alphonso Mango

Select the correct answer using code given below:
A. 1, 2 and 3 only
B. 3 and 4 only
C. 1 and 4 only
D. 1,2,3 and 4

Answer: D
Mains Questions:
Q.1) A language, after all, is a device for communication between people. This is a point that we need to remember, always. Give your arguments with this view.