<div dir="ltr"><h2 class="">Mahesh Sharma: regional languages are also a part of India’s culture</h2>
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<span class="">September 11, 2015, <span class="">6:30 pm</span> IST</span>
<a class="" href="http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/author/sanjivshankaran/" rel="author" title="Go to the profile of Sanjiv Shankaran">Sanjiv Shankaran</a> in
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<div class=""><p>Dr Mahesh Sharma, a central minister with
two separate portfolios, tourism & culture and civil aviation, is in
the news for his views on culture. He is worried about western
encroachment on Indian culture.</p>
<p>Sharma’s views must be taken seriously not merely because he is
minister for culture. A BJP parliamentarian from Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P,
his profile in culture ministry’s web site says that he has been an RSS
activist since childhood. It is reasonable to assume, given his
background, that his views do not deviate in any way from that of the
ruling dispensation.</p>
<p><a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/it-pains-me-when-west-encroaches-upon-our-culture-mahesh-sharma/">In an interview</a>, he describes his idea of western cultural encroachment as follows.</p>
<p>“Today, you give an option of reading German to students, but it
should not be at the cost of our own language. Students should learn
everything but not at the cost of Sanskrit or Hindi. This is what I
consider encroachment of my culture by the west.”</p>
<p>Sharma’s case on cultural encroachment is situated in language
policy. Also, without explicitly saying it, he earmarks Hindi and
Sanskrit for special treatment.</p>
<p>It is an odd combination for Hindi, according to the constitution, is
an official language and Sanskrit one of the many languages in the
eighth schedule of the constitution. It means Sanskrit is on par with
other languages in the eighth schedule such as Santhali or Urdu. Hindi
is also listed in the same schedule, but it also happens to be an
official language-India does not have a national language.</p>
<p>If the government wishes to promote Santhali with as much enthusiasm
as Sanskrit, it is not apparent. When Sharma’s interview is juxtaposed
with other developments, what comes through is that Hindi and Sanskrit
seem to be prioritized over other languages. It is a tragedy.</p>
<p>As things stand today, students whose medium of instruction in school
is either English or Hindi are privileged. When compared to the
millions of children whose medium of instruction is one of the many
other languages in the eighth schedule such as Odia or Assamese, English
and Hindi medium students have an unfair advantage as question papers
in many central government controlled competitive exams are set only in
English and Hindi.</p>
<p>The government’s defense of its stance is weak. Defending its
position in a court hearing about a petition relating to questions for
IIT-JEE exam being set only in English and Hindi, the government said
the medium of instruction in IITs is <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Madras-high-court-says-no-to-Tamil-in-IIT-JEE/articleshow/48849760.cms">English and lack of proficiency in English will be a handicap</a>.
It is an illogical position because if the government really wants to
follow through on its logic, questions should not be set in Hindi.</p>
<p>This problem shows up in other kinds of exams too. A few years ago,
former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh promised to lobby
the central government to allow Marathi-medium students to answer some
exams in their native tongue as they were at a disadvantage <a href="http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/deshmukh-wants-central-exams-in-marathi-also/382832/">in relation to students in English and Hindi medium</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Sharma reinforces a suspicion that the discriminatory
policy against regional languages will continue. The consequences are
tragic for millions of students. At a national level, it is also a sheer
waste of the existing talent pool.</p>
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