Anti-Hindi agitations edit
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Anti-Hindi agitations refers to the 1965 protests in the Indian state of Madras (now Tamil Nadu) against the decision of the Government of India to adopt Hindi as the official language of India. After independence, the constituent assembly had chosen Hindi as the national language of India but, primarily because of opposition from non-Hindi speaking states, deferred the implementation of this decision for 15 years, to 26 January 1965. Numerous protests against the decision were organized in the 1950s by the regional political party, the DMK but matters came to a head in 1965 with large-scale protests in the southern state of Madras. As a result of these protests, the government headed by Lal Bahadur Shastri decided against the use of Hindi as the official language of the government, and India has since continued a policy of conducting its business in Engish as well as in Hindi.1
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Hindi imposition in Tamil Nadu started in 1937 when the Congress Government of the Madras Presidency under C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) made Hindi a compulsory subject in schools. (The British were still the rulers of the Indian subcontinent at that time but elected local governments in the Provinces were installed under the British rule. Madras Presidency was a province that included much of present Tamil Nadu and parts of present Andhra Pradesh.) Tamils opposed Hindi imposition immediately and Sir A. T. Panneerselvam and E.V. Ramaswamy (later be known as Periyar or "the Elder one") organized anti-Hindi imposition protests in 1938. Mr. Thalamuthu and Mr. Natarajan were killed during the protests. Rajaji himself changed his attitude about Hindi, and started opposing Hindi imposition. In 1939 the Rajaji government quit and it was withdrawn in 1940.2unreliable source?
About 35% to 40% of people in India speak Hindi, including its various dialects. Under British rule, English had become the language of the administration. With partition not a possibility at that time, Nehru opted for Hindustani, an amalgam of Hindi and Urdu, to replace English. He also thought Hindustani was easy to learn due to a simpler grammer and proposed that linguists could evolve a basic Hindustani which would be easier learnt by South Indians.3
Gandhi also thought that instead of English, Hindustani would unite North and South, Hindu and Muslim and Hindustani should be made the rashtrabasha (national language).45
The spoken language in the house and the language with which the constitution to be written and the adoption of "National" language was the most controversial subject during the formulation of the Indian constitution. On 10 December 1946, in response to the Chairman of the house who reminded him of the inability of many members not to understand Hindustani, R.V. Dhulekar of United provinces said the following before Nehru persuaded him to leave the rostrum.
| “ | People who do not know Hindustani have no right to stay in India. People who are present in the House to fashion a constitution for India and do not know Hindustani are not worthy to be members of this assembly. They had better leave.6 | ” |
The case for Hindi to be the national language of India was bitterly opposed. T.T. Krishnamachari of Madras said,
| “ | We disliked the English language in the past. I disliked it because I was forced to learn Shakespeare and Milton, for which I had no taste at all. If we are going to be compelled to learn Hindi, I would perhaps not be able to learn it because of my age, and perhaps I would not be willing to do it because of the amount of constraint you put on me. This kind of intolerance makes us fear that the strong Centre which we need, a strong Centre which is necessary will also mean the enslavement of people who do not speak the language at the centre. I would, Sir, convey a warning on behalf of people of the South for the reason that there are already elements in South India who want separation..., and my honourable friends in U.P. do not help us in any way by flogging their idea of "Hindi Imperialism" to the maximum extent possible. So, it is up to my friends in Uttar Pradesh to have a whole India; it is up to them to have a Hindi-India. The choice is theirs.7 | ” |
The assembly finally arrived at a compromise. "The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in the Devanagiri script but for fifteen years from the commencement of the constitution, the English language shall continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately before such commencement"8
After the war with China, DMK had dropped its secessionism policies. It however pledged to preserve the cultural heritage of Tamil people. In 1956, the Academy of Tamil Culture passed a resolution seeking for the continuation of English as the official language. The resolution was signed by C.N. Annadurai, Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and C.Rajagopalachari.
Annadurai was a recognised leader of DMK. In his opinion, Hindi was a regional language like any other. It had "no special merit"; in fact, it was less developed than other Indian languages and less suited in a time of rapid advances in science and technology. To the argument that more Indians spoke Hindi than other Indian language, Anna sarcastically answered,
| “ | "If we had to accept the principle of numerical superiority while selecting our national bird, the choice would have fallen not on the peacock but on the common crow".9 | ” |
The constitution of India came into existence on January 26, 1950. Enshrined in the constitution was the status of Hindi and English to be the "Official Languages" of the Central Government of India till 1965 (for a period of 15 years), after which Hindi was expected to take up the pre-eminent position as the sole "National and Official Language" of India irrespective of the state or central government. Hindi and English were the "Official Languages" in every department controlled by the Central Government, which is why Hindi and English are prominent in Railways (except the State of Tamil Nadu)10 and nationalised banks.
As January 26, 1965 neared, non-Hindi speakers started voicing their apprehensions openly. Between 1948 and 1961, on an average, every year close to 24% of Central Government Officials were selected from the state of Madras (present day Tamil Nadu). The next best was Uttar Pradesh with about 16%. The idea of making Hindi the sole National language was blasphemous to the students as it was combined with the complete removal of English — even as a medium of education was detrimental to their future.11 This would mean that the Northern regions with their Hindi proficiency would dominate the government posts and also education. Since government jobs were the most lucrative positions before 1991 liberalization, this was seen by South Indians as an indirect means to lose these jobs to natural Hindi speakers. The non-Hindi-speaking people in South India feared that they would be discriminated against in government employment and in other ways. The pro-Hindi activists in Jan Sangh prowled the streets of New Delhi, blackening out any English sign.12. Annadurai said you can speak Tamil and English and still be a good Indian. The anti-Hindi agitations also led to the demand for creation of Dravidistan, a separate state for the speakers of Dravidian languages. 13
On republic day in 1965, two men from Madras set themselves on fire. One left a note saying that he did so for the cause of Tamil. Three days later, a man in Tiruchi killed himself by swallowing insecticide.14 The riots continued in the state of Madras for over two months and more than sixty people were killed in police firing. Railway cars were burned and stores looted in the city of Madras and at least two policemen were killed by rioters in Coimbatore.11
The intensity of anti-Hindi protests created concern among the Congress leaders. On 31 January 1965, a group of leaders including S.Nijalingappa, Chief minister of Mysore, Atulya Ghosh, Bengal Congress leader, Sanjeeva Reddy, Union Minister and K. Kamaraj, the Congress president met in Bangalore and issued an appeal not to force Hindi on non-Hindi speaking areas as they believed it might endanger the unity of the country.
Congress leader Morarji Desai said that by learning Hindi, Tamil people will increase their influence in India. He regretted that Hindi was not made official before the anti-Hindi protests crystallised. He said Congress leaders in Madras should convince people there and no regional sentiments should come in the move to forge the integration of the country.
On 11 February 1965, after the resignation of two Union ministers from madras, Lal Bahadur Shastri announced in All India Radio that he would fully honour Nehru's assurances that English would be used as long as people wanted. He also gave the following assurances.
| “ | Every state will have complete and unfetted freedom to continue to transact its own business in the language of its own choice. which may be the regional language or English.
Communications between one State to another will either be in English or will be accompanied by authentic English translation. The non-Hindi states will be free to correspond with the Central Government in English and no change will be made in this arrangement without the consent of the non-Hindi States. In the transaction of business at the Central level English will continue to be used. All India Civil Services examination would continue to be conducted in English rather than in Hindi alone.1516 |
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