7 ms·

Promoting a language because the Prime minister finds himself more proficient orator in the language? I find that hard to believe. Do you have sources on this?

ravirajx7 9y ago
It's not just that. Ever since he has got his position he is trying to promote India's ethnic values and culture and he's not saying "Bhaiyo aur beheno bas hindi bolo" ( brothers and sisters just speak hindi) and nobody is imposing the language hindi on anyone. But if you're living in a country and serving people(working in government sector) where almost majority of the people speak hindi don't you think you should have some sort of understanding to treat the people in their own language? I live in india and i have seen situations where people find it easy to grasp hindi than any other languages. Out of all those 1600+ language majority of them resembles and sounds like hindi ( just few accent differences are there) rajasthani, marwadi, mewadi, Bhojpuri,urdu, Haryanvi all resembles hindi i.e. if you know even a little bit of hindi you can deal with majority of north indian languages.
- deanstag 9y ago
  But If there is a better utility for a language like English, why not push for English + Regional Language?
  - nonamechicken 9y ago
    As a South Indian, there is no utility for Hindi other than to interact with North Indians (which is more or less non existent) or to watch Bollywood movies. English got me a job, everything I learn is because of English.
    - ucntseeme 9y ago
      Hindi is taught is schools...its you who dint gave it importance its not about what benefits you get from speaking Hindi..its more about what most states prefer to interact in. Out of 39 states 20 prefer interacting in Hindi..even when they all have different mother tongue. Its just the minority south states prefer speaking in there languages which doesn't matter to other as no migrates there( non existent)
    - intended 9y ago
      I speak Hindi, and I have studied in the south. I think the best argument to lance this boil is this “Let’s speak Tamil or kannad. These states are doing supremely better than all of the Hindi speaking states. Obviously language has something to do with our success, and it would be wrong of us to keep it to ourselves when it should be used to help the nation.” This short circuits enough wires, and is polite enough to not engage the depressing flame war that is sweeping such discussion. It’s not logical, but most of this argument is not logical, the proof of which is too much for the margins of this comment.
      - chappar 9y ago
        A correction, it is kannada not kannad :-)
    - eklavya 9y ago
      Not saying you are wrong but it doesn't make sense to me. Hindi is not the native language of any of the states anywhere in India. They all have multiple native languages. The whole language issue is because of the unfortunate language politics in South India but the same flames could be fanned in any part of India believe me. For example in my state (Rajasthan) I am pretty sure there are at least 4 dialects. What's amazing is that nobody is offended if we keep using a foreign language to do all the mediation but as soon as the majority understood Indian language is mentioned everybody is up in arms. I am forgetting the name but a recently passed away Tamil celebrity had made a famous satire on this situation, where everybody must speak in Persian.
- nonamechicken 9y ago
  It's perfectly fine to choose Hindi over English in Hindi speaking states (North India). But why some North Indians demand that South Indians speak in Hindi because it's our "national language"? That's where this Hindi imposition becomes a problem. South has it's own languages, cultures, food. I get the feeling that BJP wants whole of India to follow North Indian version of Hinduism.
  - ucntseeme 9y ago
    Hindi is taught is schools...its you who dint gave it importance its not about what benefits you get from speaking Hindi..its more about what most states prefer to interact in. Out of 39 states 20 prefer interacting in Hindi..even when they all have different mother tongue. Its just the minority south states prefer speaking in there languages which doesn't matter to other as no migrates there( non existent)
- Manishearth 9y ago
  > where almost majority of the people speak hindi You understand that this is not regionally uniform, yes? The 40% Hindi speakers is not "40% Hindi speakers in any given region"; it is "40% Hindi speakers overall", where most of the Hindi speakers live in the northern states and various cities. > i have seen situations where people find it easy to grasp hindi than any other languages Again, this is highly regionally biased.
pySSK 9y ago
Yep, I doubt that's the reason. Modi is a Hindu nationalist, and promoting preeminence of Hindi over other Indian languages has been part of that agenda for a long time.
- catchmrbharath 9y ago
  Hinduism and the Hindi language are two different things, and they are not related.
  - Manishearth 9y ago
    Hindu nationalism has historically been quite related to pushing of the Hindi language, however. (generally there always has been a push for the Hindi language from the central government as well)
    - eklavya 9y ago
      Wasn't sure where to comment. So I will comment here. Which north Indian state do you think Hindi is the native language of?
      - Manishearth 9y ago
        That's a non sequitur. It doesn't have to be a native language for folks to push it; it can be close.
        eklavya 9y ago
        Folks push it because it's Indian and understood by most. Folks resist and protest because it's not their native language and somehow worse than having English everywhere.
        Manishearth 9y ago
        > Folks push it because it's Indian and understood by most. I don't ... dispute that? You're continuing with the non sequiturs and it's really hard to tell what point you're trying to make. ("most" is also "bit more than half the population", which isn't that compelling) > Folks resist and protest because it's not their native language and somehow worse than having English everywhere. You have not understood the resistance. People don't think it's "somehow worse than having English everywhere". There is no analogous push for English everywhere that people are not opposing.
_jgdh 9y ago
The promotion of Hindi as the most important language in India is not limited to this Prime Minister or administration. It has a long history, starting from Independence in 1947, when the writers of the Constitution decided that English would slowly be phased out in preference to Hindi [1]. Unsurprisingly, foisting a foreign language on native speakers of Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and other languages was met with fierce resistance. In 1965, this policy was abandoned by the Union Government. Unfortunately, the Hindi speakers who generally dominate government never gave up this crusade. Every now and then they try something that will slightly push the boundaries of what people will tolerate, while not letting the the issue become too large. Sneaky tactics of the last few years include * In 2014, Modi decided that all social media accounts run by the government would communicate in Hindi, not English. [2] * In November 2016, new notes were issued that had numbers in Devanagari for the first time in 69 years since Independence, rather than Arabic numerals. [3] * In March 2017 mile markers in Tamil Nadu were in English and Tamil. Tamil was replaced by Hindi [3] But this is not limited to this particular government. Previous governments have taken similar steps. Personal anecdote - I studied in an institution funded by Union government where all signposts were written in English and Tamil. This was replaced across the campus at great cost with signposts written in Hindi, English and Tamil. There was not a single person on that campus who didn't know English or Tamil or both, but the Union govt wanted to send a message anyway. It left a bitter taste in my mouth. The sad part is that its not just about hurt feelings, as some Hindi speakers might characterise all of this. We are going down the exact same path as Pakistan did post Independence. They tried to force Urdu down the throats of the millions of Bengali speakers living in (then) East Pakistan. "Incentives" to learn Urdu effectively ended up discriminating against the Bengalis, leaving them disenfranchised. Eventually they couldn't take it any longer and declared Independence. I wish we could learn from history rather than repeating the same old mistakes. [1] - http://www.constitution.org/cons/india/p17351.html http://www.constitution.org/cons/india/p17351.html (It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India) [2] - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/india-pm-modi-demands-hindi-not-english-social-media-n172421 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/india-pm-modi-dem... [3] - http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/web-edits/by-pushing-hindi-is-the-government-pushing-it-4619642/ http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/web-edits/by-pushin...

ravirajx7 9y ago

It's not just that. Ever since he has got his position he is trying to promote India's ethnic values and culture and he's not saying "Bhaiyo aur beheno bas hindi bolo" ( brothers and sisters just speak hindi) and nobody is imposing the language hindi on anyone. But if you're living in a country and serving people(working in government sector) where almost majority of the people speak hindi don't you think you should have some sort of understanding to treat the people in their own language? I live in india and i have seen situations where people find it easy to grasp hindi than any other languages. Out of all those 1600+ language majority of them resembles and sounds like hindi ( just few accent differences are there) rajasthani, marwadi, mewadi, Bhojpuri,urdu, Haryanvi all resembles hindi i.e. if you know even a little bit of hindi you can deal with majority of north indian languages.

deanstag 9y ago
But If there is a better utility for a language like English, why not push for English + Regional Language?
- nonamechicken 9y ago
  As a South Indian, there is no utility for Hindi other than to interact with North Indians (which is more or less non existent) or to watch Bollywood movies. English got me a job, everything I learn is because of English.
  - ucntseeme 9y ago
    Hindi is taught is schools...its you who dint gave it importance its not about what benefits you get from speaking Hindi..its more about what most states prefer to interact in. Out of 39 states 20 prefer interacting in Hindi..even when they all have different mother tongue. Its just the minority south states prefer speaking in there languages which doesn't matter to other as no migrates there( non existent)
  - intended 9y ago
    I speak Hindi, and I have studied in the south. I think the best argument to lance this boil is this “Let’s speak Tamil or kannad. These states are doing supremely better than all of the Hindi speaking states. Obviously language has something to do with our success, and it would be wrong of us to keep it to ourselves when it should be used to help the nation.” This short circuits enough wires, and is polite enough to not engage the depressing flame war that is sweeping such discussion. It’s not logical, but most of this argument is not logical, the proof of which is too much for the margins of this comment.
    - chappar 9y ago
      A correction, it is kannada not kannad :-)
  - eklavya 9y ago
    Not saying you are wrong but it doesn't make sense to me. Hindi is not the native language of any of the states anywhere in India. They all have multiple native languages. The whole language issue is because of the unfortunate language politics in South India but the same flames could be fanned in any part of India believe me. For example in my state (Rajasthan) I am pretty sure there are at least 4 dialects. What's amazing is that nobody is offended if we keep using a foreign language to do all the mediation but as soon as the majority understood Indian language is mentioned everybody is up in arms. I am forgetting the name but a recently passed away Tamil celebrity had made a famous satire on this situation, where everybody must speak in Persian.
nonamechicken 9y ago
It's perfectly fine to choose Hindi over English in Hindi speaking states (North India). But why some North Indians demand that South Indians speak in Hindi because it's our "national language"? That's where this Hindi imposition becomes a problem. South has it's own languages, cultures, food. I get the feeling that BJP wants whole of India to follow North Indian version of Hinduism.
- ucntseeme 9y ago
  Hindi is taught is schools...its you who dint gave it importance its not about what benefits you get from speaking Hindi..its more about what most states prefer to interact in. Out of 39 states 20 prefer interacting in Hindi..even when they all have different mother tongue. Its just the minority south states prefer speaking in there languages which doesn't matter to other as no migrates there( non existent)
Manishearth 9y ago
> where almost majority of the people speak hindi You understand that this is not regionally uniform, yes? The 40% Hindi speakers is not "40% Hindi speakers in any given region"; it is "40% Hindi speakers overall", where most of the Hindi speakers live in the northern states and various cities. > i have seen situations where people find it easy to grasp hindi than any other languages Again, this is highly regionally biased.

pySSK 9y ago

Yep, I doubt that's the reason. Modi is a Hindu nationalist, and promoting preeminence of Hindi over other Indian languages has been part of that agenda for a long time.

catchmrbharath 9y ago
Hinduism and the Hindi language are two different things, and they are not related.
- Manishearth 9y ago
  Hindu nationalism has historically been quite related to pushing of the Hindi language, however. (generally there always has been a push for the Hindi language from the central government as well)
  - eklavya 9y ago
    Wasn't sure where to comment. So I will comment here. Which north Indian state do you think Hindi is the native language of?
    - Manishearth 9y ago
      That's a non sequitur. It doesn't have to be a native language for folks to push it; it can be close.
      - eklavya 9y ago
        Folks push it because it's Indian and understood by most. Folks resist and protest because it's not their native language and somehow worse than having English everywhere.
        Manishearth 9y ago
        > Folks push it because it's Indian and understood by most. I don't ... dispute that? You're continuing with the non sequiturs and it's really hard to tell what point you're trying to make. ("most" is also "bit more than half the population", which isn't that compelling) > Folks resist and protest because it's not their native language and somehow worse than having English everywhere. You have not understood the resistance. People don't think it's "somehow worse than having English everywhere". There is no analogous push for English everywhere that people are not opposing.

_jgdh 9y ago

The promotion of Hindi as the most important language in India is not limited to this Prime Minister or administration. It has a long history, starting from Independence in 1947, when the writers of the Constitution decided that English would slowly be phased out in preference to Hindi [1]. Unsurprisingly, foisting a foreign language on native speakers of Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and other languages was met with fierce resistance. In 1965, this policy was abandoned by the Union Government. Unfortunately, the Hindi speakers who generally dominate government never gave up this crusade. Every now and then they try something that will slightly push the boundaries of what people will tolerate, while not letting the the issue become too large. Sneaky tactics of the last few years include * In 2014, Modi decided that all social media accounts run by the government would communicate in Hindi, not English. [2] * In November 2016, new notes were issued that had numbers in Devanagari for the first time in 69 years since Independence, rather than Arabic numerals. [3] * In March 2017 mile markers in Tamil Nadu were in English and Tamil. Tamil was replaced by Hindi [3] But this is not limited to this particular government. Previous governments have taken similar steps. Personal anecdote - I studied in an institution funded by Union government where all signposts were written in English and Tamil. This was replaced across the campus at great cost with signposts written in Hindi, English and Tamil. There was not a single person on that campus who didn't know English or Tamil or both, but the Union govt wanted to send a message anyway. It left a bitter taste in my mouth. The sad part is that its not just about hurt feelings, as some Hindi speakers might characterise all of this. We are going down the exact same path as Pakistan did post Independence. They tried to force Urdu down the throats of the millions of Bengali speakers living in (then) East Pakistan. "Incentives" to learn Urdu effectively ended up discriminating against the Bengalis, leaving them disenfranchised. Eventually they couldn't take it any longer and declared Independence. I wish we could learn from history rather than repeating the same old mistakes. [1] - http://www.constitution.org/cons/india/p17351.html http://www.constitution.org/cons/india/p17351.html (It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India) [2] - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/india-pm-modi-demands-hindi-not-english-social-media-n172421 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/india-pm-modi-dem... [3] - http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/web-edits/by-pushing-hindi-is-the-government-pushing-it-4619642/ http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/web-edits/by-pushin...