Nip the language ‘movement’ in the bud

“Ifthis linguistic profiling doesn’t stop, our resistance movement will reach New Delhi. The ruling party at the Centre is unleashing ‘linguistic terrorism’ to erase our identity, language, culture and pride,” thundered West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while announcing in the same fiery tone that she would launch ‘another language movement on July 27’ against the ‘Bhasha santras’ (linguistic terrorism) and the diabolical game plan unleashed by the NDA government at the Centre. One should note with a pinch of salt that these utterances were not off-the-cuff remarks aimed at gladdening her people but one that could have dangerous ramifications on the morrow. For all one knows, if Banerjee launches the no-holds-barred movement that she has warned of, then there no doubt that this may be the flashpoint for the launch of a full-fledged language movement across the country as the seeds of such ‘linguistic revolutions’ have been sown in several states, including Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Such a nationwide stir could be the trigger for a major upheaval in the country, one that may not be to anyone’s liking.

India is a country where caste wars and river water sharing conflicts among two or three states are commonplace and where one gets to read about brutal honour killings every other day. But a fully blown nationwide linguistic battle has the potential to create a civil war-like crisis that could be more macabre than the dark days of emergency, where the targets were only anti-establishment individuals and not any community or states people. But when a linguistic movement takes over the country like a storm, the results can be perilous and create an internal chaos the likes of which are unheard of in independent India. Moreover, the people in the linguistically diverse country in which over a thousand languages are spoken (22 of which enjoy the official language status), have been known to get emotional and sensitive when it comes to issues revolving around language and the mother tongue. This ‘touchy’ reaction has been exhibited on umpteen occasions, especially in the southern states when the Union government of the day tried to push Hindi in school curriculums. The Hindi versus regional languages issue has been simmering for decades together. And there seems to be no end in sight if one goes by the recent forceful decisions of the NDA government.

Tamil Nadu has been on the boil from 1965 onwards against what the people termed as Hindi imposition, and an almost similar anti-Hindi uproar spread to Karnataka. Linguistic agitations have been violent and bloody in several states. The temporary truces following the soft peddling of these dictatorial and draconian policies by the Centre notwithstanding, the fact remains that people from West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are particularly guarded when it comes to their mother tongue. And they make no bones of it. It is so very sentimental that they hold their respective languages as being more ancient and superior to the one spoken in the neighbouring state. The outrage against Kamal Hasaan’s Tamil vs Kannada remark is just an instance among many. The pro-Marathi ‘rule’ is wreaking havoc in Maharashtra much to the discomfort of millions of non-Marathi speaking population. The NEP policy is yet another bizarre initiative by the NDA government that stands testimony to its highhanded administration and makes a mockery of the country’s secular and cosmopolitan credentials. The government must be mature enough and work for a ‘united’ India if that is what matters for them.