DNA Edit: Can of worms – Hindi is spreading, even without official patronage

The Hindi Diwas or Hindi Day is normally an unobtrusive day in the calendar, which is marked by symbolic usage of India’s largest spoken language in government offices. For years, it has been no more than a harmless ritual, until this year when Home Minister Amit Shah made it a day to remember. On Saturday, Shah opened a can of worms, which was best thought closed since the language agitation of the 1950s. He pitched for Hindi as a common language for the country, saying that it was necessary to have one language, which could represent India in the world. He also suggested that widely-spoken Hindi can keep India united. Whatever Shah’s intention, the fact is that he has stepped onto a land mine. 

Expectedly, linguistic states south of the Vindhyas, let out howls of protest at these efforts to place Hindi on a higher pedestal. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the perception that only Hindi can unite the country is incorrect. He said the people in the South and Northeast don’t speak Hindi and claimed that it was a crude attempt at presuading them to disown their mother tongue. Parties in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, too, hit out at the proposal, with many stressing that Hindi was among the 22 languages recognised by the Constitution and the stature of all the other languages is the same. DMK chief MK Stalin — whose political forebears had headed the anti-Hindi agitation more than six decades ago — said the Home Minister’s views were “shocking”. 

While the Home Minister’s seemingly innocuous statement made on the occasion of Hindi Diwas has caused uproar, it makes sense to steer clear of such emotive issues. While it’s true that India has 122 languages and over 19,500 dialects, there are a total of 22 languages listed in the eight Schedule of the Indian Constitution. According to the 2011 Census, Hindi is the most spoken language for 43.6% cent of the population; Bengali comes a distant second at 8%. What is certain is that no language — indeed, nothing — can be imposed from the top. In reality, it is not even needed. Even without any government imposition, Hindi as a language has spread far and wide. In 1971, 36.9% of Indians spoke Hindi as a first language, but in 2011 this had increased to 43.6%.  Hindi is entering the South through migration, but is far from affecting South Indian languages. 

A major channel for the spread of Hindi is culture, specifically, Bollywood. Social scientists have long suggested that cinema is the critical vehicle for the spread of Hindi. Increased frequency of Hindi films-related internet searches in the South would suggest that Bollywood is becoming more popular and Hindi is entering South India as a mainstream language. Given that the draft National Education Policy, which initially proposed introducing three languages including Hindi into the national curriculum, has already sparked an outrage, the government would be well-advised to stay clear of such emotionally-charged issues.