Remarks by a Hindi actor to the effect that Hindi is the national language of India has sparked controversy recently over the status of the language under the Constitution.

What is the status of Hindi?

• Under Article 343 of the Constitution, the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script.
• The international form of Indian numerals will be used for official purposes.

The debate

• Inherent opposition to Hindi: The Constituent Assembly was bitterly divided on the question, with members from States that did not speak Hindi initially opposing the declaration of Hindi as a national language.
• Colonial footprints of English: Proponents of Hindi were insistent that English was the language of enslavement and that it should be eliminated as early as possible.
• Fear of Hindi imposition: Opponents were against English being done away with, fearing that it may lead to Hindi domination in regions that did not speak the language.
• Inefficacy of Sanskrit: There were demands to make Sanskrit the official language, while some argued in favour of ‘Hindustani’.
• Issue over Script: There were differences of opinion over the script too. When opinion veered towards accepting Hindi, proponents of the language wanted the ‘Devanagari’ script to be adopted both for words and numerals.

Major outcome: No national language

• It was decided that the Constitution will only speak of an ‘official language’.
• And that English would continue to be used for a period of 15 years.
• The Constitution said that after 15 years, Parliament may by law decide on the use of English and the use of the Devanagari form of numbers for specified purposes.

What is the Eighth Schedule?

• The Eighth Schedule contains a list of languages in the country. Initially, there were 14 languages in the schedule, but now there are 22 languages.
• There is no description of the sort of languages that are included or will be included in the Eighth Schedule.

Constitutional position of Eighth Schedule

There are only two references to these languages in the text of the Constitution.

(i) Article 344(1):

• It provides for the formation of a Commission by the President, which should have a Chairman and members representing these scheduled languages.
• The purpose of the Commission is to make recommendations for the progressive use of Hindi for official purposes of the Union and for restricting the use of English.

(ii) Article 351:

• It says it is the Union government’s duty to promote the spread of Hindi so that it becomes “a medium of expression for all elements of the composite culture of India”.
• It also aims to assimilate elements of forms and expressions from Hindustani and languages listed in the Eighth Schedule.

What were the 1965 protests about?

• The Official Languages Act, 1963 was passed in anticipation of the expiry of the 15-year period during which the Constitution originally allowed the use of English for official purposes.
• Its operative section provided for the continuing use of English, notwithstanding the expiry of the 15-year period.
• Jawaharlal Nehru had given an assurance in 1959 that English would remain in official use and as the language of communication between the Centre and the States.
• The Official Languages Act, 1963, did not explicitly incorporate this assurance, causing apprehensions in some States as the January 1965 deadline neared.
• At that time, PM Lal Bahadur Shastri reiterated the government’s commitment to move towards making Hindi the official language for all purposes.

TN loops in the agitation

• In Tamil Nadu, then known as Madras, the prospect of the use of Hindi as the medium of examination came due to recruitment examination of union.
• It created an apprehension that Hindi would be imposed in such a way that the future employment prospects of those who do not speak Hindi will be bleak.

Creating an exception for Tamil Nadu

• With the Congress government in the State taking the view that the people had nothing to fear about, protests broke out in January 1965.
• It took a violent turn after more and more student activists joined the protest, and continued even after key Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leaders were arrested.
• More than 60 people died in police firing and other incidents as the protests went on for days.
• The agitation died down later, but by then the Congress at the Centre realised the sensitivity of the language issue among Tamil-speaking people.
• When the Official Language Rules were framed in 1976, it was made clear that the Rules apply to the whole of India, except Tamil Nadu.

What is the three-language formula?

• Since the 1960s, the Centre’s education policy documents speak of teaching three languages — Hindi, English and one regional language in Hindi-speaking States, and Hindi, English and the official regional language in other States.
• In practice, however, only some States teach both their predominant language and Hindi, besides English.
• In States where Hindi is the official language, a third language is rarely taught as a compulsory subject.
• Tamil Nadu has been steadfastly opposing the three-language formula and sticks to teaching Tamil and English.
• It argues that those who need to know Hindi can learn on their own.

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