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<h1 class="entry-title">Protect Indian languages, end preference to English, says RSS</h1>
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<a href="https://theprint.in/author/ruhi-tewari/" title="Posts by Ruhi Tewari" class="gmail-author gmail-url gmail-fn" rel="author">Ruhi Tewari</a> <span class="gmail-td-post-date gmail-td-post-date-no-dot"><time class="entry-date gmail-updated gmail-td-module-date" datetime="2018-03-10T19:28:58+00:00">10 March, 2018</time></span> </div>
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<div class="gmail-td-post-featured-image"><figure><img class="entry-thumb gmail-td-animation-stack-type0-2" src="https://64C5F.https.cdn.softlayer.net/8064C5F/theprint.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/29066564_1813554478758724_325712117657239552_n-696x410.jpg" alt="" title="Latest news on RSS | theprint.in" width="696" height="410"><figcaption class="gmail-wp-caption-text">Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha | Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Facebook page</figcaption></figure></div>
<p><strong>Decline in the use of Indian language words, use of
words of foreign languages is a serious challenge, says top
decision-making body of RSS.</strong></p>
<p><strong>New Delhi: </strong>The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has
voiced concern over what it says is the “decline in the use of Indian
languages”, “the replacement of words with those from foreign
languages”, and sought government intervention to “protect” local
tongues.</p>
<p>“The decline in the practice and usage of Bharatiya languages, and
the elimination of their words and replacement by words of foreign
languages, are emerging as a serious challenge,” the RSS said Saturday
in a statement issued on day two of the three-day meeting of the Akhil
Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS).</p>
<p>The ABPS is the highest decision-making and policy formulation body
of the RSS. The second day of the annual meeting also saw Suresh
Bhaiyyaji Joshi elected to his fourth term as ‘sarkaryawah’ or RSS
general secretary.</p>
<p>Last year, similar worries about the alleged corruption of Hindi had
led RSS affilate Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas, headed by former chief
of the RSS’ education wing Vidya Bharati Dinanath Batra, to recommend
that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
remove certain English and Urdu/Arabic words, as well as a couplet by
Ghalib, from textbooks on the subject. It was responding to an NCERT
request for suggestions from the public on reviewing textbooks.</p>
<p>“Today, many languages and dialects have become extinct and several others are endangered,” the RSS said Saturday.</p>
<p>“The ABPS is of the opinion that the governments, other policy-makers
and the society, including voluntary organisations, should endeavour to
undertake all kinds of efforts to protect and promote various languages
and dialects of the country,” it added.</p>
<p>To this end, the Sangh has demanded that primary education be in “the
mother tongue or any other Bharatiya language”. “Teaching, study
material and the option of appearing in the examinations for higher
education in all faculties, including the technical and medical ones,
should be available in Bharatiya languages too,” it said.</p>
<p>The RSS described as a “welcome initiative” the conduct of the
National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medicine and Union
Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams “in Bharatiya languages”, adding,
“The same option should be available for other entrance tests and
competitive examinations still not being conducted in Bharatiya
languages.”</p>
<p>The Sangh also called for an end to the “systemic preferential treatment” accorded to English.</p>
<p>“Preference should be given to Bharatiya languages in all
governmental and judicial works. Bharatiya languages should be
encouraged in governmental and non-governmental appointments, promotions
and all kinds of functions instead of giving preference to English,” it
added.</p>
<p>“The ABPS is in favour of learning various languages of the world to
acquire diverse knowledge,” it said, “But in a multilingual country like
Bharat, the ABPS considers it most necessary to protect and promote all
the languages of Bharat as the carrier of our culture.”</p>
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<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="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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