[lg policy] Bangalore: Language Policy: Writers Support Govt

[Harold Schiffman]

 Language Policy: Kannada Writers Support Govt

By Express News Service - BANGALORE

Published: 17th January 2014 10:19 AM

Last Updated: 17th January 2014 10:19 AM

Prominent Kannada writers and thinkers have urged the State government to
go all out in making a strong case for its language policy which is
scheduled to come up before a Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court on
January 21.

Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Kimmane Rathnakar held a
meeting with writers on Thursday to help the government prepare for the
first Constitutional Bench hearing of its language policy, which mandates
that the medium of instruction in Classes 1 to 5  in the State should be
Kannada or the mother tongue.

“There was absolute consensus that we should support this language policy
of the State government, which was struck down in 2008 by the High Court
that ruled that only government and aided schools can have medium of
instruction as Kannada or the mother tongue,” writer and critic Baragur
Ramachandrappa said.

Last July, a two-judge bench headed by Justice P Sathasivam referred the
case to a larger, Constitutional Bench that will hear the case January 21
onwards. “There are some fundamental questions facing us and we have
expressed our collective views. The main questions are, how do we define
mother tongue and will this language policy violate Constitutional
provisions for minority schools? In my view, it does not violate any
Constitutional articles,” Prof Ramachandrappa said.

In June 1989, the State government, in accordance with Article 350A of the
Constitution, spelt out its language policy specifying the mother tongue as
the medium of instruction at the primary school level and making it
mandatory for every child who has not opted for Kannada as the first
language to take it as a second language. Another order was issued in April
1994 to make the language policy effective from the 1994-95 academic year.

It was pointed out in the meeting that the Supreme Court had, in 1993,
struck down a petition filed by English Medium Students’ Parents’
Association that sought to challenge the June 1989 policy order.

Participants also discussed whether the language policy violates Article 14
(protection against discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex
or place of birth), Article 19 (freedom of speech), Article 29 (interests
of minorities) and Article 30 (right of minorities to establish and
administer educational institutions).

Researcher M Chidananda Murthy said the question of whether minority
institutions will be affected is irrelevant.

“It is not a question of minority or majority. This is a language that we
are talking. Educationists across the world have testified that education
in a child’s mother tongue helps better cognitive development,” he said.

Law Minister T B Jayachandra, Advocate General Ravivarma Kumar, Kannada
Development Authority chairperson Mukhyamantri Chandru, writer
Chandrashekhar Patil and others were present.
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