Rajdeep sardesai’s column – Nothing will be gained by doing politics on language | Rajdeep Sardesai’s column: Nothing is going to be achieved by doing politics on language

Rajdeep Sardesai Senior Journalist

‘English speakers in this country will soon feel ashamed.’ -Union Home Minister Amit Shah ‘Attempts to impose Hindi on those who speak Marathi will not be tolerated.’ -The leader of the leader Raj Thackeray ‘Hindi’s staunch supporters are narrow mindset and anti -national, who consider our opposition as treason.’ Language-War has come back in the Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin International headlines!

Although linguistic fanaticism has been a political weapon for a long time, but in recent times it has come out again, so that the real issues can be diverted. Amit starts with Shah. At the root of Shah’s displeasure towards English, the Hindi-Hindu-Hindu-Hindustan ideology is the ideology of the Sangh Parivar. It is believed that English is against Indian culture as a language language.

But Shah has studied biochemistry at St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad, which is famous as a prestigious institution of English. His son Jai Shah also studied in Loyola Hall in Ahmedabad, which is one of the famous English medium schools. And in spite of this, Shah has never hidden the spirit of despision of English. Like Shah, the Thackeray brothers also sent their children to English medium schools.

He has not even left talks in Hindi and interviewed. Nevertheless, his politics revolves around ‘Marathi I’ so that he remains a separate identity in the crowded market of politics. If Shah’s Hindi-centric view is to maintain the BJP against the Nehruwadi Congress, then the politics of the Thackeray brothers on the issue of language is an attempt to re-create the original ‘Dhartiputra’ movement of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray.

But know that even though Bal Thackeray has been speaking against non-Marathi speakers, he did his first job as a cartoonist in a newspaper of English. But today when the Shiv Sena has faced a crisis of existence, the Thackeray brothers are trying to remain relevant in the name of linguistic Asmita.

In fact, in the 1960s, the emergence of the Dravidian parties was under the anti -Hindi movements. Today, after six decades, when Stalin is trying to impose Hindi on the Tamil speakers in the new education policy, then through this, they want to reinforce the battle of north-south and strengthen their image as the leader of the politics of regional identity. But while they are fighting ‘Tamil I’, it is also a fact that the children of DMK Chief’s family are going to foreign universities to study.

Remember that most of the private schools in Chennai are ready for a trilogy course, which has an alternative language. Children of at least half a dozen cabinet ministers are studying in reputed foreign universities today.

English is no longer the colonial language, but has become the language of hopes and ambitions. You go anywhere in the country, you will see the increasing English coaching classes. All these are giving the social level of new India a chance to rise a rung. Instead of embarrassing English, young Indians are trying to master it. But in many parts of the country, a lot of efforts will have to be made to bring the quality of English teaching to the desired level.

This is the reason that state-like state-like state has lagged behind in terms of service. It is also interesting that Hindi itself has become a language of progress and expectations in the country. Take a look at the films that were made in the south, but after release in Hindi became a blockbuster. The traditional division between the north-south is now weakening. Well, who could think that Ranchi -born Hindi -speaking Mahendra Singh Dhoni would one day become the hero of Chennai!

(These are the author’s own views)