language bullies

Sir — The Supreme Court has rightly held that State has no power to compel schools to impart primary education in the mother tongue. Imposition of the mother tongue as the only medium of instruction, be it in Karnataka or elsewhere in India, will hurt the fundamental rights of linguistic minorities; hence, the choice should be left to the institutions concerned and parents. 

The judgement is a welcome voice of reason in an emotionally fraught debate which pitched Kannada against English. For many, English is the language of technology and modernity, of jobs and social mobility. Hence the growing demand for English-medium private schools and the mushrooming of English-language centres.