[lg policy] Protect Indian languages, end preference to English, says RSS

Mon Mar 12 13:53:37 UTC 2018

 Protect Indian languages, end preference to English, says RSS
Ruhi Tewari <https://theprint.in/author/ruhi-tewari/> 10 March, 2018
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Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha | Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
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*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.*

*New Delhi: *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.

“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).

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.

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.

“Today, many languages and dialects have become extinct and several others
are endangered,” the RSS said Saturday.

“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.

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.

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.”

The Sangh also called for an end to the “systemic preferential treatment”
accorded to English.

“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.

“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.”

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 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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