Subhas Chandra Pattanayak
Imposition of Hindi as national language will certainly be opposed by Indians of different languages. We in Orissa shall oppose this imperialistic fascist design, as we have been fighting for administration- both in public and private sector – in Oriya, our mother tongue.
Be it kept in mind that India is an union of provinces of different provincial languages. Mahatma Gandhi had therefore always insisted that India can prosper and survive as a country, only if mother tongue of the people becomes the medium of administration, education, trade and commerce, and political activities.
Debates in the Constituent Assembly in matter of national language culminated in the decision of keeping English out of the 8th schedule and leaving Hindi to wishful thinking. Later, in 1963, official Language Act was created by Parliament as an “Act to provide for the languages which may be used for the official purpose of the Union, for transaction of business in Parliament, for Central and State Acts and for certain purposes in High Courts”. This shows unambiguously that Hindi was never made the Official Language of India.
Imposition of Hindi as Official Language of India is not within the power of the Government of India. Its imposition would be imposition of foreign rule on non-Hindi India and we the people whose mother tongue is not Hindi will not accept this imposition.
There is no need of a national language in India, because India is not a nation of people of one language.
If Indian Government is to impose its decision on the management of provinces, it may create a new law to force every State Government to run its administration and manage its affairs in the State Language only, with stipulations that, there shall be imposition of President’s Rule in the province that fails to run the State in its own Language, in order to ensure that the Language of the people becomes inviolably the official language of the province.
In every province a Language Board may be created to handle the official communications with other States of India and beyond.
Nothing else is permissible.