Tasneem Rosner Edit post THE STARK DICHOTOMIES IN INDIAS STATE POLICY : THE ISSUE OF LANGUAGES . Dec 10, 2014 IMTIYAZ A. BAKHSHIS article, as it appeared in RISING KASHMIR is detailed and well-written. It sums up the saga and predicates the gloom of the dark clouds gathering on Indias political horizon. It more than underlines the extreme poverty and dearth of a global vision and a plural perspective on the part of the architects and proponents of the RSS and few other hawkish leaders. It apperas that an emerging right wing coalition is bent upon turning the inherently forward looking Indian political and social system into a diehard, introvert bastion : Ironically that of high-handed conservatism and an unabashedly ardent parochialism. Any ideology which tends to be nationally and lopsidedly unilineal and inward-looking is a threat to idealism, outwardliness and plural progressivism of the Indian democracy. It cuts at the roots of the theoretical and practical principles enshrined in a democratic secular Republic and its constitution. We have seen and clearly noticed the rising crescendo of ultranationalistic rhetoric and policies trying to gain an upper hand.The ominous signs and signals of the upcoming State policies are obvious through the open public declarations of some important leaders and Ministers. Their public statements about many a political phenomena and other major and minor current issues have instilled fear and a sense of insecurity among many. Oftentimes, they have psychedelically expressed their stances and biases and swayed them from one extreme to another, thus fanning the fears of reprisal and rejection among the minorities , diverse ethnic and lingual groups and many a cultural regions. The issue of the flowering of the languages, whether foreign or indigenous, is the latest sore irritant in the eyes of the right-wing Nationalists. How pitiful and how limited can this entire new political and social experiment get ? Where does this wave of ultranationalistic narcissism stop and what all is it about to engulf in the name of misguided nationalism. The political absurdity has its limits. Let us simply take the issue of the languages in general in India for a moment : It is not just the German and other foreign languages in India that seem to currently threaten the ideologue Politicians, but many local languages which are indigenously Indian do as well. For example, had it not been due to (thanks to the still objective) Supreme Courts verdict in support of Urdu, the latter was being pushed to the brim of extinction by an important section among the ultranationalist coalition. Urdu, a native language . strictly stemmed from Indias rich cultural heritage and the Mughal lingual-cultural innovation and Renaissance. To reiterate, it was not even a foreign language by any definition or norm. The harbingers and hawks of Indias inward vision usually ignore the fact of an increasing globalism. An ever-expanding global-economic-cultural alliance and the interdependence of nations fuelled by the fast-paced economies is a reality that cant be ignored. Learning each others language has become a valuable way to forge an affinity and strong cultural exchanges among the international actors( the countries). An ever-shrinking world as a result of information and cyber technologies is shrinking further to an unbelievable degree. As far as the languages go, in all major universities, and even the noted Colleges throughout majority of the civilized and literate countries as well as those that are still charachterized as developing in the world , foreign languages are taught as a secnd major. Actually, oftentimes, and In some cases, there is no bar to a foreign language being the first major. Such examples are rampant in all the foreign language institutes of academic excellence and merit. Most well-recognized institiutions of excellence or academic repute boast and have usually a School or institution of Foreign Languages. This oftetimes is a proof of their breadth, scope and self-sufficiency based on being seen as incorporating multifarious disciplines. It all depends on how a certain country and nation sees it. But in majority of the cases, there have not been the type of idiosyncratic or ethnocentric reactions we see the Indian leadership exhibiting in its adversarial stance to some languages. Talking of the Institutions of excellence in the Languages, one native/local example is the School of Foreign Languages at Jawahar Lal Nehru University. What are the concerned sections of the rightist orthodoxy of the RSS-BJP going to do next? Would they venture to shut down this otherwise reputable and well-recognized bastion of academic excellence called JNU. ? Would they perhaps one crazy morning simply decide to shut it down because the University has had the nerve to have a highly accredited School of Foreign Languages ?? Being my Alma Mater as well as that of the Author (of this article- Imtiyaz Bakhshi), - it is not outlandish to fear, deduce and infer such possibility due to these emergent irrational trends in an otherwise constitutionally and politically plural India. What is tragic is that it is not important at all to such ideologues that so many young Teachers of German language in India had invested their hopes and dreams, their hard work and their familys/Parents resources and labor into carving a budding, prospective future in the teaching of German language. I guess, to the harbingers of inward outlook,, it doesnt matter at all that these young men & women had remarkably and progressively decided to transcend the political and cultural barriers and reach out beyond the strict national boundaries. If one were to judge by the policies and standards of the current leadership, one may wrongly assume or guess that the lofty ideal and pursuit of an ideal universalism and a world without borders of the Great Teacher, Krishna Murthy, passed on with him. Going back to the previous argument, the young Teachers engaged in the teaching of a foreign language (in this particular case German), are at least employed presently. Finding employment in India for educated youth who have specialized in fine Arts, Social , cultural or/and lingual Sciences, and many more disciplines, is an uphill task presently as it is. The politicians and pseudo ideologues that pretend to be the guardians and proponents of Sanskrit as a language , must not loose the sight of other stark facts impacting Indias economy and its secular-constitiutional fabric and ethos. They ought to be acutely aware of the ongoing, current dearth and deficiency of employment and opportunities for the youth. The loss of any youths aspirations, hopes and dreams translates in the national loss of any given country - in the short and the long run, as far as its unemployment,gross national income, and the downfall of its economy is concerned. . All this impacts the economy and jeopardizes the future growth in critical sectors. As far as offering the employment and opportunities to our youth goes, it is obviously clear that the German Govt. and Chancellor Merkel has done more than a series of our own successive Governments ever have done much lately in these particular areas and disciplines. As far these young Teachers of German language are concerned, and all others who are presently unemployed , they deserve a positive word of praise and encouragement : Instead of rioting on the roadsides and calling for strikes against their inefficient and ineffective Governments for the scarcity of resources, opportunities and jobs, they are instead constructively busy sharing and imparting the fruits of their wisdom and progressive approach. They are imparting knowledge and their own lessons of hard toil in learning a foreign language (not usually an easy task) as an important value to a younger generation of students as best as they can. Kudos and hats off to them.! They are still doing so as the adversity already has or is about to face them due to the unwise policies, narrow-mindedness and the tunnel-vision of our leaders. It is utter foolhardy to shift, change, make and mar the policies and administrative decisions in a manner that affects our hard-working Youth negatively. Especially, when such policies are, in fact, based on pure insecurity, fear and whim as and when compared to general international trends and happenings. Why affect the future and nullify and cutback the aspirations and hopes of those who legitimately earned them. It wasnt the fault of these young enterprising Teachers, in the first place, when such major effort to teach German language was first initiated and then heartily welcomed by a rather far more progressive and the open architects of Indias foreign and cultural policies. Now the current Indian leadership is looking inwards and trying to emhasize policies steeped in ethnocentrism and ethnolingualism. There is another important dimension that should be seriously pondered over by our Politicians as far as the issues of sensitivity towards the languages is concerned: If they are so sensitive about what they see as the imposition of another language , how come thir own approach is fraught with duplicititious double standards? For example, have they ever wondered that there are important minorities in India who, in fact, are an innate part of Indias plural and constitutional lay out. It is possible and it is well known that such minorities may not and do not wish to adopt or impose Sanskrit as a language on their children in Schools or elsewhere. It is not a matter of religion any more , nor should it ever have been ! it is a matter of personal , Parental choice, heritage and culture. Such options and preferences are an essential ingredient and the undeniable basis of the Fundamental Rights of the Constitution of India. Hence, charity must begin at home: The ultranationalist Orthodoxists must themselves refrain from imposing any language whatsoever on the unwilling masses. Besides, It is foolhardy to let such dichotomies, insecurity and competition get the better of ourselves. Sanskrit is the language of Classical India, - its History, religion and heritage and in this sense commands the respect of all Indians. It is an essential part of the history, heritage and pride that all Indians share in common. Nonetheless, India is diverse and plural in all its aspects, whether that be its people, cultures, sub-cultures, languages, dialects, ethnicities, religions. Learning Sanskrit may not be the raison deter for all these different cultural and religous communities and cultures. Hence, it should not be forcibly imposed on them either as that is the abrrogation of their fundamental rights and a negation of their freedom of choices , preferences as well as their own specific aspirations. A leadership that feels so irked by the German language being taught in the Kendriya Vidyalays etc, ought to examine its own policies, inclinations and ambitions. It is flagrantly aiming at turning the entire country into, say, into a huge Kendrya Vidyalay for the imposition of Sanskrit language . The unfortunate fact is that it is being done not as the desire to uphold and value a historical symbolic heritage of a united, secular India for all Indians.. But it is rather vociferously pursued and aggressively flaunted in policies and statements as a stubborn way to carry out the State will. The only purpose such policies serve is that of fostering an unavoidable notion and image that India is increasingly adopting a religiocentric, unilineal vision which is diametrically and inherently opposed to its secular ethos. Forget the envy, competition and insecurity the proponents of Sanskrit may feel towards the teaching of the German language in KVs. We all who believe in the values of Democracy, personal freedoms and fundamental Rights, seriously worry about the other ominous writing on the wall. This writing has neither the German nor the Sanskrit script. It is encrypted and rooted in the initial rumblings and beginnings of all those political mishaps that typically destabilize a society or a Nation. Such mishaps, misgivings, miscalculations are authored by the constantly erring, opportunist Politicians. They usually forget the very teleological facts and basis upon which the secular, Republic called Indiawas founded. Their ominous parochialism and biases usually negate progressivism, secularism and Democracy - the three bed-rocks of an open, transparent society and a legitimate system.. Let Indias secular ethos not perish. This debate and issue is far greater and far more important than any other issue or diproportionately-blown controversy and competition between the languages. German and Sanskrit as well as other myriad foreign and native languages including six hundred plus odd dialects within India itself , - can and have co-existed so far beautifully everywhere. What our leaders need to learn themselves is the utmost importance and utter urgencies involving the issues of peaceful co-existence and tolerance between us all in India. They must lead by example. December 4 at 2:08pm. Report thisShare on LinkedInShare on FacebookShare on Google PlusShare on Twitter Written by Tasneem Rosner 10 posts
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 07:14:31 +0000
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