Column|People Should Not Be Forced to Speak and Write in Hindi: Arvind Sawant

What is the need for a link language? The question is why is it being raised right now? I have doubts about it.

Were Indians not already speaking Hindi? I was born and raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra. There you will find many people speaking Hindi. Whether they go to a vendor or a shopkeeper, they speak in Hindi. Sometimes, even the other person is a Maharashtrian. They don’t know whether he is a Maharashtrian or not. They simply speak Hindi.

The Constitution recognises Hindi as one of the languages of communication. It is not the national language. All languages are national languages. If you devalue other languages, there is a problem. When the Constitution recognises every state language, naturally Hindi is one of them too. But you cannot impose it.

What is happening today is a reaction because people are being forced to speak and write Hindi. Tamilians, particularly, feel it is an encroachment, or that the government is asserting an upper hand over their mother tongue. Every child, irrespective of religion or region, speaks his or her mother tongue first. To me, my mother tongue is a national language because I can express myself best in it.

There is nothing wrong with learning languages. Very few people like Shashi Tharoor are so eloquent that they can express themselves equally well in multiple languages. But learning languages is always a good thing.

Take for instance Vinoba Bhave, the great Gandhian. He spoke 14 languages. He could speak, write and read them. That is something to admire.

People ask me why I oppose this. Let me explain.

I was a vernacular-medium student. I studied in Marathi until Class 11. English was introduced only after Class 5. We learned ABCD in Class 5, not in KG. Hindi also started in Class 5. I appeared for the Staff Selection Commission examination with four languages—Marathi, Hindi, English and Sanskrit. Sanskrit fetched good marks. We knew all four languages. We respected all four languages. Then there were science, mathematics and higher mathematics because I wanted to pursue engineering. That is how we studied.

We never opposed learning Hindi. We opposed its imposition.

When the Maharashtra government tried to introduce the third language from Class 1 or KG, we strongly opposed it. We said let it begin only after Class 5. There was strong opposition in Maharashtra and the government backed down.

We were learning Hindi from Class 7. What was the problem? There was none. We are not opposing Hindi even today. What we oppose is forcing a third language on a KG student. Let a child first become fluent in the mother tongue. After that, let the child learn as many languages as possible.

Don’t impose. Let people learn. We believe in learning languages.

India’s strength lies in its diversity. Whatever violence may have taken place in the past over religion or other issues, we have remained united in diversity. Diversity is the jewel of this country. Do not look at it as a distraction.

People speak Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati and Hindi. Even within Hindi, there are many dialects. The Northeast has its own languages. That is India’s beauty.

I see India as a garland. A garland has different flowers and even leaves. That is what makes it beautiful. That is what we believed Hindutva was—the thread that binds everyone into one garland. That was Balasaheb Thackeray’s thought.

Let people have their own languages. Let everyone take pride in their language. Don’t impose another language.

This is not about ekta, akhandata, samruddhata or whatever slogan you give. The fear is that you want to divide people and rule. I have said this earlier too. Don’t divide India into north India and south India.

Today, the idea appears to be to remain in power indefinitely. For that, you are calculating the numbers. Most of the numbers are in the north because of the country’s geography. From Maharashtra onwards, the country narrows towards Kerala. That is why there is opposition to delimitation and the imposition of language.

Look at Hindi films. Where is their biggest market? Maharashtra. Bollywood is in Mumbai. We never opposed it. We respect every language.

Now look at what is happening during the special intensive revision (SIR) in Karnataka. Our border issue has remained unresolved for decades. Nearly 60 years have passed. The matter has been before the Supreme Court for the past 30-40 years.

The Marathi-speaking areas—Belgaum, Karwar, Nippani, Bhalki and Bidar—have a large Marathi-speaking population. The Minority Commission applies to them because they are a minority in that state. But the Minority Commission office has been shifted to Tamil Nadu. Will these people now travel to Chennai? What is the idea?

During the SIR, forms are being issued only in Kannada. Many people there do not know Kannada well enough. Some are illiterate. They know only Marathi, not even Hindi. Even the three-language formula is not being followed. It should be Kannada, Hindi and English.

I have written to the Election Commissioner and he has directed that the rules be followed, but the official concerned is not following them. If the State Election Commissioner does not follow the rules, who is responsible? Taken together, I believe the intention is not trustworthy. It leads to disintegration, not integration.

People may speak Tamil, but they live in India. Were Tamilians not part of India’s freedom struggle? So many people sacrificed their lives—Hindus, Muslims and leaders from every religion. Even today, there are Christians who speak fluent Marathi. They are respected Marathi literary figures. They write books. They are Christians. What is wrong with that?

As long as a citizen believes in the unity of India, believes in the Constitution and is ready to sacrifice for the country, it does not matter which caste, creed, religion or region they belong to. They are Indians. That should be enough for us.

No language barrier. No imposition. No compulsion. When we travel outside the state, we may not know the local language, but we still try to communicate. People understand. They do not immediately say, “speak in Tamil”. Nobody says that in Tamil Nadu either. If I tell them I am from Maharashtra and do not know Tamil, they understand. Today, I can say ‘Vanakkam’ because I stayed there for a long time. I adapted.

Likewise, I come from the coastal area of Maharashtra. In our villages, people from Kerala who run auto-repair shops and bakeries, and people from Rajasthan who sell sweetmeats, speak Malwani, a colloquial form of Marathi. Sometimes they speak it better than us.

Nobody forced them. They realised that if they spoke the local language in Kankavli or Malvan, people would be happy. Nobody told them, “You have come from Kerala, get out.” People flock to their shops. That is integration.

We are integrated. Don’t dismantle it. What is happening now is simply not correct.

(As told to Ashlin Mathew)

(Views expressed are personal)

Arvind Sawant Member, Shiv Sena (UBT)

(This story appeared in Outlook magazine’s August 31 issue, 'Whose Idea of India?', in which India’s noted public intellectuals, policymakers, cultural practitioners, political leaders, scholars and economists write in detail about the idea of India they believe can best secure the nation’s future as we celebrate 80 years of independence.)