The 'disease' of Hindi chauvinism - Part 1
Hindi-belt MPs created a ruckus to stress that Hindi was not a disease. In fact, it was their antics that showed off the language as a disease. Chauvinists must understand that love for Hindi should not turn into Hindi jingoism.
HINDI-BELT MPs created a ruckus to stress that Hindi was not a disease. In fact, it was their antics that showed off the language as a disease. Chauvinists must understand that love for Hindi should not turn into Hindi jingoism. Numerous youngsters in India display a sense of embarrassment if they are caught speaking in Hindi by their modernised peers. In fact the disease is the obsession to impose one's own language on others. And it seems, numerous politicos in Hindi-speaking states suffer from this obsession.
Parliamentary business on July 20 exhibited deadly symptoms of the underlying disease of Hindi chauvinism, which has been dormant for some years. The flak drawn by the comments of Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh from honourable members of BJP, SP and BSP of Hindi-speaking States, demonstrates that chauvinists have still not understood that love for Hindi should not be turned into Hindi jingoism. These members created a ruckus to stress that Hindi was not a disease. In fact, it was their antics that showed off the language as a disease. Hindi chauvinism may be termed a cancer that may prove fatal for the 60-year-old experiment of the Indian Republic. This Republic, it should be kept in mind, is an amalgam of peoples of several distinct ethnicities, faiths, cultures and linguistic heritage.
The time appears to have come to go in for drastic radiotherapy to cure the cancer. It needs to be categorically clarified that Hindi cannot enjoy any more privilege than the languages of the States that constitute the federal republic. Knowing that rational arguments will not be able to drill sense into the cow-belt MPs, particularly in the light of the erroneous notion of the Vice President, K Malaichamy, an MP from Tamil Nadu, adopted an innovative method. He protested the step-motherly treatment to non-Hindi-speaking States vis-a-vis Hindi-speaking ones, in a unique way. The MP insisted on asking his question to Hindi-speaking Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, in chaste Tamil. Jaiswal was visibly at sea, unable to make head or tail out of the question. Since translation was not available, Malaichamy then repeated his question in English, and demanded that the minister reply in the same language. The point made was crystal clear: Hindi is a language of a few states in the North. If it is right to impose it on others, why not impose Tamil, Marathi, Telugu, Bengali, Punjabi or Oriya, on those not proficient in English.
Linguistic chauvinism, indulged in by some leaders to hide their shortcomings in important areas, is preventing them from reaching their potential. Trouble arose during question hour when Ramesh replied in English to a supplementary put to him in Hindi, triggering a sharp reaction from Kalraj Mishra (BJP). Mishra faulted him for not replying in Hindi despite being fluent in it. To this, the minister quipped in Hindi: “Kalraj Mishraji, Mulayam Singhji ki yeh bimari aap tak bhi pahuch gayi hai” (Mulayam Singh Yadav's malady seems to have spread to you too). He wanted to draw the attention that Mulayam had already squandered a lot of time in the Lok Sabha on the non-issue of ministers preferring to use English despite being fluent in Hindi. Chairman Hamid Ansari then said both the languages could be used in the House and that members should not make an issue out of a non-issue. However, Ansari himself went on to exhibit his Hindi-philia when he ruled: “This (original) question was asked in English and the minister has the right to answer in English.”
He implied that a minister will NOT have the right to answer in English if the original question as well as supplementary were in Hindi. Even this appeasement did not pacify the chauvinists who kept protesting against Ramesh. They continued even after the chair ruled that any comment against the national language would be expunged, exhibiting his deplorable notion that only Hindi is the national language and others were anti-national. This type of behaviour in Parliament is reminiscent of the era of rabid fanatics like RV Dhulekar, Seth Govind Das, and RM Lohia. It indicates that conventional attempts to keep the cancer of Hindi chauvinism under check have failed and it has become deeply entrenched.
He implied that a minister will NOT have the right to answer in English if the original question as well as supplementary were in Hindi. Even this appeasement did not pacify the chauvinists who kept protesting against Ramesh. They continued even after the chair ruled that any comment against the national language would be expunged, exhibiting his deplorable notion that only Hindi is the national language and others were anti-national. This type of behaviour in Parliament is reminiscent of the era of rabid fanatics like RV Dhulekar, Seth Govind Das, and RM Lohia. It indicates that conventional attempts to keep the cancer of Hindi chauvinism under check have failed and it has become deeply entrenched.
The time appears to have come to go in for drastic radiotherapy to cure the cancer. It needs to be categorically clarified that Hindi cannot enjoy any more privilege than the languages of the States that constitute the federal republic. Knowing that rational arguments will not be able to drill sense into the cow-belt MPs, particularly in the light of the erroneous notion of the Vice President, K Malaichamy, an MP from Tamil Nadu, adopted an innovative method. He protested the step-motherly treatment to non-Hindi-speaking States vis-a-vis Hindi-speaking ones, in a unique way. The MP insisted on asking his question to Hindi-speaking Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, in chaste Tamil. Jaiswal was visibly at sea, unable to make head or tail out of the question. Since translation was not available, Malaichamy then repeated his question in English, and demanded that the minister reply in the same language. The point made was crystal clear: Hindi is a language of a few states in the North. If it is right to impose it on others, why not impose Tamil, Marathi, Telugu, Bengali, Punjabi or Oriya, on those not proficient in English.
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