The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : English & Hindi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 16, 2004

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

English & Hindi

Sir, — This refers to the editorial, "Hindi-English bhai bhai" (Oct. 14). English seems to have become the language today. Hindi-English barriers are hardly relevant any more. Also, it is no longer uncommon to see political leaders hailing from different parts of the country speaking in English while addressing the media.

It is time leaders like Mulayam Singh woke up to the stark reality and adapted themselves to the changed circumstances.

V. Venugopal,
Chennai

* * *

Sir, — Gone are the days when every attempt was made to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking States. One-party governments are a thing of the past as are language battles fought bitterly on the floor of Parliament. Thanks to coalition politics, Hindi co-exists with English, whose importance cannot be overemphasised.

B.H. Shanmukhappa,
Davanagere, Karnataka

* * *

Sir, — C. Rajagopalachari who waged a battle against the imposition of Hindi in the 1950s and 1960s would not have dreamt that one day the North would shed its hatred for English and gladly come forward as the bhai of the English-speaking rest of India.

South India, particularly Tamil Nadu, would do well to make Hindi a compulsory subject in schools, shedding its fear of domination by the North. China and Japan have opened their doors to English shedding their age-old hatred. The European Union has accepted English as its official language. With the world becoming a global village, the North's love for English is only bound to increase.

V. Jeyapaul,
Rajapalayam, T.N.

* * *

Sir, — Rajaji actively campaigned for the retention of English in our universities and as the sole Union Official language in the interests of our national integration.

Rajaji was past 77 when he undertook tours across the country to address mass gatherings and elite conferences on the need to retain English for our own good. (He was also the one who made attendance of Hindi classes compulsory when he was Premier of Madras Presidency for which he is misunderstood to this day.)

Congressmen of Jawaharlal Nehru's time did not take kindly to his campaign and his demolishing, in the process, the myth that Hindi was spoken by a majority of Indians. When his campaign for English took him to Calcutta, Chief Minister B.C. Roy got a resolution in favour of English passed unanimously by the West Bengal Assembly before Rajaji left for Madras.

K. Vedamurthy,
Chennai

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