<div dir="ltr"><h2 class="">Command and control</h2>
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<span class="">January 30, 2016, <span class="">12:03 am</span> IST</span>
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<div class=""><span class=""><span class=""></span></span><span class=""></span><p>The HRD minister wants to make Sanskrit compulsory in schools. What
an ambition! India’s educational system is in shambles and needs a
massive overhaul. Smriti Irani meanwhile wants to fiddle with language
policy, Nero like, while the education sector languishes and is
convulsed by controversial, badly-conceived reforms and appointments.</p>
<p>Personally, I loved learning Sanskrit back when I was a schoolboy. I
found it easier than Hindi, and I enjoyed its structure and rhythms.
Quite why everyone in India should have to learn Sanskrit, though, is
beyond me.</p>
<p>The three-language policy of the 1960s was a sensible compromise that
assuaged the feelings of those who were not Hindi speakers. It said
essentially that everyone should learn Hindi, the national language, at
some point in their school careers. In addition, Indians were to be
taught in their state language. Finally, they were to know English,
again up to some level of competence, so that India had a link language
across the length and breadth of the country.</p>
<p>The three-language policy never quite worked as well as its engineers
hoped. Some states went slow on Hindi, others on English, and a few on
both. Nevertheless, Hindi is the fastest growing language in India. It
has therefore joined, indeed surpassed English as the link language.
Despite the games that various states played with the policy, ordinary
Indians invested in Hindi and to a much lesser extent in English. And of
course they studied in their state languages.</p>
<p>If it is not broke, why fix it? If the three-language formula has
worked, why is the minister playing around with it when there are so
many other things to do in the education sector? India is united by many
cultural, social, economic and political links between people. Surely
it does not need tinkering with the language policy to deepen its unity.</p>
<p>The Sanskrit initiative has little to do with national unity or
improving education standards. It probably has everything to do with a
cultural agenda. BJP ideologues want control of the commanding heights
of culture and knowledge-production to reshape the “idea of India” in
ways that will help the party politically. School and higher education
is the key to establishing control and the way we think about our
political choices.</p>
<p>Poor old Sanskrit is to be the vehicle for this programme. Classical
languages, the world over, don’t do well as languages of daily use. They
never did. That is the lesson of Latin and classical Mandarin. In the
case of classical Arabic and classical Greek speakers are diglossic,
that is, they move in and out of the classical and modern variants
depending on the linguistic occasion and context. But in these two
latter cases, there was no real break in the use of the classical
variant. That is hardly the case with Sanskrit. It was never widely
spoken or written, even in northern India.</p>
<p>There are those who genuinely love Sanskrit and quite understandably
want it to flourish linguistically. Is this the motive of the HRD
minister? Kanimozhi, DMK MP, has been quoted as saying: “Sanskrit is a
very Hindu language, it is not used by Christians or Muslims. So why do
you want to impose it on everyone?” She was speaking rhetorically of
course and has provided the answer to her own question. Her point is
that Sanskrit is sought to be imposed precisely because it is associated
with Hindus.</p>
<p>One of the very real problems of India’s school education is the
appalling way languages are taught – all our languages including
English. Hindi should be taught effectively, as hundreds of millions use
it even if many are relatively “passive” users. English is the greatest
world language, whether we like it or not, and something must be done
to check alarmingly declining standards. And the state languages must be
taught well for cultural and educational reasons.</p>
<p>The HRD minister should turn her attention to fixing the general
level of language teaching and attainment rather than wasting time over
Sanskrit instruction. Language is the vehicle of thought. Knowing a
language well is a vital skill; it is not mere cultural adornment.</p>
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