Has the Government assumed that the national anthem doesn’t inspire the youthIJ Or that a new composition in Hindi will do motivate India’s diverse populationIJ
The Government is considering the composition of an inspiring and patriotic youth anthem that will be in sync with the 21st century context and may be performed at various youth events. Such an anthem is to be composed in Hindi, and the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has organised a contest for this purpose. The contest closes on July 15 and the best entry will be given a prize of Rs1,00,000.
This youth anthem raises three questions. First: Are we implying that India’s national anthemJana Gana Mana no longer enthuses or motivates the youth todayIJ Second, how do we know that the India’s diverse and multi-lingual youth will be adequately motivated by singing in HindiIJ Third, isn’t the accompanying monetary award biased in favour of a Hindi-speaking competitorIJ
There remains a feeling in some sections of the public that the BJP still represents the ‘cow belt’ or the Hindi-speaking hearland. Since its ascendance to power, the BJP-led Government at the Centre has made sporadic attempts at prioritising Hindi. Also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also mostly speaks in Hindi (though he is well within his rights to do so, if that’s the language he is comfortable in). All this give us an apprehension that the BJP is slowly and steadily pursuing the objective of imposing Hindi on non-Hindi speaking people of India.
The perspective of language is the subtext of everything that surrounds us. In India, there are 22 Scheduled languages. Then there is the story of English and its politics in India, of how it became the language of power, aspiration and necessity. This is a complex narrative and reflects the reality of post-colonial India. Now, it seems like the leadership in some Hindi-speaking States wants Hindi to gain prominence over English. This does not take into consideration the concerns of the many non-Hindi speaking States.
Equality of opportunities assumes a level playing field where the odds are also shared equally by everybody. However, if Hindi is promoted at the cost of other languages, it will offer bigger and better employment options, especially in Government service, for Hindi-speaking people. Moreover, the three-language formula has also not been implemented in Hindi-speaking States; whereas, most non-Hindi-speaking populations are required to bear the load of three languages. In contrast, children in the West, for example, learn multiple languages at school while their medium of instruction remains their mother tongue.
More than half of India's population does not speak Hindi as its first language. India has always been a land of diversity. It has been held together by a set of values and traditions, and most importantly, a sense of solidarity. Each State is a unit of culture and language and has a strong identity. They do not need to be the same; they just need to be together. They don't need majoritarian muscle flexing to be united. The leaders must be sensitive to this.
Yes, there must still be an all-India language of communication. English is firmly entrenched in India. Today we even boast that India has a competitive advantage in the outsourcing business because of its English-speaking population. But the most logical point is that the use of English as official language renders a level playing field to different linguistic peoples.
If many of us object to English for it is a foreign language, then we should consider popularising Sanskrit for it is a rich and structured language, the root language for many modern Indian languages. Also, given its compatibility with science and technology, it can easily be the language of the future.