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<a href="https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/hindi-imposition-isn-t-nationalism-india-isn-t-china-india-s-language-divide-75038"><h1>‘Hindi imposition isn’t nationalism, India isn’t China’: India’s Language Divide</h1></a>
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“The idea of Hindi imposition and to conflate it with
nationalism is entirely bogus,” actor Prakash Belawadi said at the India
Today Conclave. </span>
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Saturday, January 20, 2018 - 10:07 </span></li></ul>
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<p>How can we make politicians and people from the
Hindi-belt understand that many states in India are subjected to Hindi
imposition, and that it is wrong?</p>
<p>At the ongoing India Today Conclave South 2018 in Hyderabad, former
Human Resource Development Minister MM Pallam Raju, Congress
Spokesperson Brijesh Kalappa, actor Prakash Belawadi and Kerala-based
writer NS Madhavan, tried their hand at explaining why the south is
peeved with the Centre’s push for Hindi.</p>
<p>Titled 'The Language Divide: Whose Hindi is it?’, the panel
discussion was moderated by senior India Today journalist Rahul Kanwal.</p>
<p><strong>Why must promoting Hindi be equated with nationalism?</strong></p>
<p>Promoting Hindi as ‘rashtra bhasha’ or as the main Indian language is
often justified in the garb of nationalism. But Prakash Belawadi called
that out and said that those two did not necessarily go hand in hand.</p>
<p>“The idea of Hindi imposition and to conflate it with nationalism is entirely bogus. It’s not correct,” he said.</p>
<p>NS Madhavan also pointed out how attempts to impose Hindi were being
made subtly. "After demonetisation, when the new currencies were
printed, Hindi numerals were used. This is against the official language
policy of Government of India. A person from Tamil Nadu went to the
High Court on this issue. We can understand speaking Hindi or even the
letters but placing Hindi numerals on national currency is imposition,"
said the writer. </p>
<p>Prakash also questioned why a country should have just one dominant
language. "The idea is an archaic one,” he said, “It is not about being
anti-Hindi, it is about equity. It is about common sense. In Karnataka,
if bank forms don’t have Kannada, and people who have studied till
class 10 go to a bank, they feel illiterate. Their primary education has
been in Kannada medium. Why do you impose a situation, where you make
people feel inadequate in their own place?”</p>
<p><strong>Critiquing justifications to promote Hindi</strong></p>
<p>Moderator Rahul brought up the example of China, and how it is used
by people to further justify the promotion of Hindi. “Even though many
dialects are spoken in China, they push for one language, and that
becomes a global showcase. People in the world then learn Mandarin in
hopes that they can do better business with China,” he said.</p>
<p>MM Pallam Raju replied that it is not a fair comparison as "China
works in an autocratic manner". "I think India’s greatest strength has
been its soft power – it has arisen from its heritage, culture. Those
are the strengths we should encourage. Every language has its subtle
nuances which relate to its unique identity and I think that’s what
makes India great,” he said.</p>
<p>Raju however refused to draw a political correlation to the
imposition of Hindi and said that any attempts to thrust Hindi upon
Indians will be met by resistance. </p>
<p><strong>Why Hindi, why not another language?</strong></p>
<p>Rahul asked Madhavan why there wasn’t a strong anti-Hindi sentiment
in Kerala as there had been witnessed in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.</p>
<p>Madhavan explained that people in Kerala had had to learn Hindi in
the past decade or so because there were over 30 lakh Hindi-speakers in
the state, who were mostly employed in manual labour. “So to communicate
with them, we need to learn Hindi. But this doesn’t mean that the
feeling of Hindi being imposed on other parts of the country is not
there,” he said.</p>
<p>He argued that the three-language formula was not implemented in the
right spirit 1968 onwards. “The three-language formula said that in
Hindi speaking states, Hindi, English and any language other than Hindi
but preferably a south Indian one should be used. And in other parts of
the country (non-Hindi speaking states), Hindi, English and a regional
language (should be there). But in implementation, the CBSE has promoted
Hindi, English and any other language. As a result, you can pass out
from Kerala without studying Malayalam. This way of indirectly promoting
Hindi, and of pumping a lot of money into (promoting) Hindi, has
affected the Malayalee also,” Madhavan argued. </p>
<p>Rahul asked then why there a problem learning Hindi as well, apart
from the regional languages. “Why not learn both? Make Malayalam your
first language and also learn Hindi?” he asked Madhavan.</p>
<p>Madhavan replied, “I say why Hindi? Why not French? I come from a
state where everyone who can speak Malayalam can read Malayalam also.
You can’t say that about Hindi-speaking people. 40% of them can’t read
Hindi… So why Hindi? It can be French, or another language which has
resources.”</p>
<p><strong>On the state flag debate</strong></p>
<p>Brijesh Kalappa stressed on the need for validating regional identity to help make India’s federal structure stronger.</p>
<p>Addressing the debate surrounding Karnataka's demand for a state
flag, he said, "For federalism to take a deep root, it is essential that
each regional identity be given a voice of its own. And if Australia,
Germany, America have states with their own flags, what’s the difficulty
for Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu? In any case, these states
have their own flag, so why not make it official?" asked Kalappa. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Prakash Belawadi held a different view. “Getting
government support – what does that mean? That they want to hoist the
flag on buildings? We are already doing that, the government support
doesn’t mean anything really.”</p>
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<a href="https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/hindi-imposition-isn-t-nationalism-india-isn-t-china-india-s-language-divide-75038"><h1>Indian flights will soon allow calls and internet: TRAI has cleared in-flight phone connectivity</h1></a>
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<div class="gmail-views-field gmail-views-field-field-blurb-news">The decision by TRAI allows airlines to offer these services once they meet security norms. </div>
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<ul class="gmail-authors-list"><li><span class="gmail-createddate"><ul class="gmail-authors-list"><li><a href="https://www.thenewsminute.com//author-articles//TNM-Staff">TNM Staff</a></li><li>Saturday, January 20, 2018 - 10:16</li></ul></span></li></ul>
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<div class="gmail-views-field gmail-views-field-body"><p>Air
travellers in India will soon be allowed to make calls and access the
internet while flying in Indian airspace, since the Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI) allowed in-flight connectivity (IFC) on Friday</p>
<p>The decision by TRAI allows airlines to offer these services once
they meet security norms. The notification by TRAI also allowed calls
once an aircraft reaches an altitude of 3,000 metres.</p>
<p>The operation of MCA (mobile communication on aircraft) services has a
minimum height restriction of 3,000 metres in Indian airspace to ensure
its “compatibility with terrestrial mobile networks”.</p>
<p>“We have allowed both mobile communication on aircraft and on-board
internet as IFC in Indian airspace. Now it is up to airlines which one
of these to offer,” said a TRAI official speaking to<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/trai-gives-approval-for-mobile-calls-net-surfing-while-flying/articleshow/62575489.cms" target="_blank"> Times of India.</a></p>
<p>Currently flyers are not allowed to use mobile phones or the internet
within Indian airspace due to security concerns. However, with the
latest recommendation by TRAI, flyers can send and receive WhatsApp
messages, post on social networking sites and check emails on-board a
flight in India. </p>
<p>Airlines around the world offer Wi-Fi on-board the flight. No Indian
airline however has publicly announced when they will offer IFC on their
flights. Foreign airlines which already offer IFC had to switch it off
to comply with Indian airspace rules.<img src="https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif"></p>
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<p>TRAI recommended a separate category of ‘IFC service provider’ which
will “be required to get itself registered with the department of
telecom and it need not necessarily be an Indian entity”. </p>
<p>The regulatory requirements could be the same for both Indian and foreign airlines for offering IFC services in Indian airspace.</p>
<p>Indian airline executives welcomed the move and indicated that it
will help them compete with foreign peers. "Indian carriers will
determine what to offer depending on their competitive situation," said
an airline executive speaking to <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/trai-paves-the-way-for-in-flight-internet-connectivity-issues-recommendations/articleshow/62569823.cms">Economic Times.</a></p>
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<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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