CIRCULARS IN LANGUAGE OF MINORITIES LAND IN TROUBLE

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Dear Kerim and others,

This has to do with whether the government of Karnataka State in India
will communicate with its citizens in a language other than Kannada.
Karnataka State has the highest proportion of language "minorities"
(people speaking a language other than the dominant or official language,
in this case Kannada) of any major state in India--35% by last reckoning
that I'm familiar with. The largest "minority" are Tamil-speaking and have
been demanding that Tamil be officialized in Karnataka for some time, but
this demand has been resisted. Other "minority" languages are Telugu,
Tulu, Konkani, Marathi, Kodagu, and Urdu.  (Maybe some others, too).

This issue has been a contentious one since the states in India were
reorganized after independence in the 1950's.

Does this help?

Hal

On Thu, 6 May 2004, P. Kerim Friedman wrote:

> Can anyone explain this to me? I've read it three times and I still
> don't understand what the issue is that is being disputed. Maybe I'm
> just still not awake this morning...
>
> - kerim
>
> On May 6, 2004, at 8:37 AM, Harold F. Schiffman wrote:
>
> >    Forwarded from Star of Mysore
> >
> >
> >                CIRCULARS IN LANGUAGE OF MINORITIES LAND IN TROUBLE
> >
> >             Bangalore, Apr. 30 (KVV)- The State Government has
> > reportedly
> > issued an order to the Heads of Departments to issue important
> > Government
> > Orders (GOs), notifications, rules etc., to benefit the linguistic
> > minorities also in their own language.  The State Government has issued
> > the disputed order on Mar. 31 and the same has triggered a controversy
> > with Kannada Sahithya Parishat and Pro-Kannada activists opposing it.
> > They
> > have urged the Government to immediately withdraw the disputed order,
> > failing which, they would launch agitations. The disputed order has
> > been
> > issued under the seal and signature of Mr. C. Krishnamurthy, Under
> > Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms
> > (DPAR).
> >
> >
> >             The Government Order has instructed the Heads of
> > Departments
> > to issue important Government Orders, notifications, rules etc., also
> > in
> > the language of linguistic minorities alongwith Kannada and English
> > language.  According to the said order, prominent Government orders and
> > notifications should be issued in Tamil and Telugu for Bangalore
> > District,
> > Urdu and Telugu for Bangalore Rural, Marathi, Urdu (Belgaum, Bidar,
> > Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Shimoga Districts) Telugu and Urdu
> > (Bellary
> > District), Malayalam, Konkani, Tulu (Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu
> > Districts).
> >
> >             A conspiracy
> >
> >             Researcher Dr. M. Chidananda Murthy has condemned the order
> > terming it a 'deep conspiracy to disintegrate Karnataka in a phased
> > manner' and to wipe out Kannada.  He said that Chief Minister Mr. S.M.
> > Krishna may not be aware of the consequences of the order.  Dr. Murthy
> > said that such kind of order cannot be issued even in States like
> > Andhra
> > Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Kerala. In Maharashtra, there are
> > a
> > large number of Kannadigas, but does the Government of Maharashtra
> > promulgate such an order in favour of linguistic minorities ?" he
> > questioned.
> >
> >             "Where is the end, if the Government goes on issuing orders
> > like this? The Kannada Development Authority should immediately take
> > serious note of this," he demanded.  The office of the Kannada
> > Development
> > Authority is located in Vidhana Soudha from where the disputed order
> > was
> > issued. The KDA came into existence with the sole objective of
> > implementing Kannada as the official language in the State. Kannada
> > Development Authority should prove its existence, he said.
> >
> >             KDA keeps mum
> >
> >             "If the KDA observes silence in this regard, it will send
> > wrong signals. We all know about its in-action. When I said this, some
> > vested interests criticised me. But now, it is the duty of KDA to stall
> > the implementation of the order," he said.  "Kannadigas should raise
> > their
> > voice against the anti-Kannada order. They should launch a peaceful
> > struggle," he said.
> >
>