Language of unity

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has rejected the three-language formula advocated in the National Education Policy (NEP 2020).
Opposition from the State had last year forced the Centre to amend the draft NEP and withdraw a proposal to teach Hindi as a third language in schools in non-Hindi speaking States.
Yet in the NEP, approved by the Union Cabinet last week, it chose to push for the three-language formula, packaging it as a means to promote multilingualism and “national unity”.

It is commonly understood that the three languages referred to are Hindi, English and the regional language of the respective States.
Though the teaching of Hindi across the country was part of a long-standing system, it was crystallised into a policy in an official document only in the National Policy on Education, 1968.
Three-language formula in Hindi-speaking States includes the study of a modern Indian language, preferably one of the southern languages, apart from Hindi and English and in the ‘non-Hindi speaking States’, Hindi should be studied along with the regional language and English.
On promotion of Hindi, the NPE 1968 said every effort should be made in developing Hindi as the link language and as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India as prescribed in Article 351 of the constitution.
The establishment of colleges and other institutions of higher education, in non-Hindi States, which use Hindi as the medium of education should be encouraged.
Incidentally, the NPE 1986 made no change in the 1968 policy on the three-language formula and the promotion of Hindi.

The Central government released a draft NPE, a report prepared by a committee headed by space scientist K. Kasturirangan.
Its reference to mandatory teaching of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking States set off a political storm in Tamil Nadu and some other states, which is traditionally opposed to the compulsory study of Hindi.
However, the final version of NEP gives the freedom to the state, region, and child to choose three languages to be learned of which at least two of them should be native Indian languages.

The State has been traditionally opposed to any attempt to introduce Hindi as a compulsory language of learning or administration.
The origin of the linguistic row, however, goes back to the debate on official language.
In the Constituent Assembly, Hindi was voted as the official language by a single vote. However, it added that English would continue to be used as an associate official language for 15 years.
The Official Languages Act came into effect on the expiry of this 15-year period in 1965. This was the background in which the anti-Hindi agitation took place.
However, as early as in 1959, Jawaharlal Nehru had given an assurance in Parliament that English would continue to be in use as long as non-Hindi speaking people wanted it.

Leaders in Tamil Nadu do not oppose the voluntary learning of Hindi and cite the unhindered work of the Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, established in Chennai by Mahatma Gandhi in 1918.
The institution imparts Hindi teaching at various levels to anyone who enrols for its programme. Also, there is no bar on private schools, most of them affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, offering Hindi.
The State has been following the two-language formula for many decades, under which only English and one regional language are compulsory in schools.
In 2006, facing criticism that many manage to avoid learning Tamil by opting for Hindi or Sanskrit in private schools, the State government enacted The Tamil Nadu Tamil Learning Act under which Tamil has to be compulsorily learnt in schools operating in the State.

An important aspect of the opposition to Hindi imposition is that many in Tamil Nadu see it as a fight to retain English. However, India’s federal nature and diversity demand that no regional language is given supremacy over another.

References:

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/language-of-unity/article32272553.ece

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