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Language Bill crosses first hurdle </h1>
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December 14, 2017 00:02 IST
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December 13, 2017 23:04 IST
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<p>The Lok Sabha to-day [December 13, New Delhi] adopted the motion for
consideration of the Official Languages (Amendment) Bill and the
official resolution on language policy by an overwhelming majority of
213 votes to 69. While the D.M.K. voted against the motion, three
Congress members including Seth Govind Das also voted against the
motion. The P.S.P. voted for the Bill. The S.S.P. and the Jan Sangh also
voted against the motion. All amendments seeking to circulate the Bill
for eliciting public opinion, reference to Joint Select Committee and
reference to Supreme Court for getting opinion were rejected by the
House. The first reading alone took more than a record time of 13 hours.
The House gave its general approval to the Bill after the Home
Minister, Mr. Y.B. Chavan, had announced the Government’s willingness to
accept some of the amendments in order to clarify the purpose of the
Bill. Before the Home Minister spoke, Mr. Sreekantan Nair (R.S.P-Kerala)
rose and demanded an opportunity to speak on behalf of his State. The
Speaker did not grant his request. Protagonists of Hindi who indulged in
heckling those with whom they differed throughout the day were stunned
to silence when Mr. Nair thundered several times, “Down with Hindi
imperialism,” collected his papers and walked out of the House. Never
before had party lines been shed so completely as in this debate in
which the House was divided virtually into supporters of Hindi amid
those who fought against the imposition of Hindi. Speeches made by Jan
Sangh members were cheered by Congressmen. The S.S.P. benches applauded
the remarks of Congressmen from Hindi speaking areas. The D.M.K, several
Swatantra members and Communists spoke with almost one voice.
Congressmen from West Bengal differed from Congressmen from Hindi areas.</p>
</div></div></div></div></div></div></section><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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