M.K. ASHOKA

Bengaluru, Oct 23,2022:  The debate on Hindi imposition has been raging in Karnataka ever since the Committee of Parliament on Official Language headed by Union Minister Amit Shah submitted its report to the President.

Kannada groups and political parties are raising concern over Hindi imposition and especially the fear that alleged Hindi obsession of the ruling BJP would ruin the ‘centres of excellence’ run by the Central government.

Since, the recommendations by the committee are not found in the public domain, the fear of Hindi imposition is being debated. Various groups are suggested the Karnataka government should emulate the Tamil Nadu model of passing a resolution in the state legislature against imposition of Hindi language.

Sanneerappa, General Secretary of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, told IANS stated that initially, the Central government talked about the language of the land.

Later, because the institutions are funded and run by the Central government, indirectly Hindi language will be imposed.

“There shall not be any doubt about it. That is what happened with the railways, banking and post office. Likewise, the imposition will be made here as well. Our government should also pass a resolution against Hindi like the Tamil Nadu government headed by the ruling DMK party,” he explains.

“We can only believe the present government should bring a resolution in the assembly session, like how they did with other issues,” he underlined.

He further said that gradual attempts will be made to say that since the central government provides funds, their diktats have to be followed. It will be brought under legal framework also, he adds.

Sanneerappa said that currently, the Central government will not “dare” on the Hindi imposition as the parliamentary elections are nearing. “If BJP comes to power again, they have one line agenda, one nation, one language and one religion,” he observed.

Their intention is to finish off regional parties and they are carrying out. Hindi imposition will face stiff resistance, Since political parties like JD (S) have taken up the issue and opposition leader Siddaramaiah is very vocal about Hindi imposition, things won’t be so easy. Ruling BJP in Karnataka will be forced to support the cause of Kannada language, Sanneerappa explains.

Arun Javagal, who is a part of Banavasi Balaga, a group of professionals working towards Kannada language and State Organizational Secretary of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike says the official report is nowhere to be found in public domain.

“They have said Hindi language would be used in the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) institutions in Hindi states.

“Nowhere they have stated that it would be there for non-Hindi states. It is not clear. How to give an opinion without seeing the report is the question. The process of providing education in local regional languages — if it is brought slowly, might help. It is not possible to implement the policy immediately,” he said.

If the attempts are made to give education in centres of excellence only in Hindi and not in other regional languages, it would become a crisis, he underlined.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has spoken about many things. In Karnataka also it should be done. Otherwise, it would be assumed that there is no one to question and it would give license to do whatever comes to mind, Arun Javagal said.

Article 344 of the Indian Constitution clearly suggests how to minimize English and bring Hindi in its place. The backing for the committee headed by Amit Shah comes from the constitution, he stated.

“Today Congress is talking against the committee. But, they have given similar recommendations earlier. Out of 11 recommendations made so far, eight recommendations made by Congress governments are more dreadful. They recommend issuing advertisements by the Indian government only in Hindi and railway tickets to be issued only in Hindi. They are working as per the constitution. The root case is not identified,” he explained.

Opposition leader Siddaramaiah had taken to social media and launched an attack on the ruling BJP over Hindi language imposition and neglect of local Kannada language. He chided that the government headed by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is trampling Kannada language repeatedly and glorifying Hindi language only to please the central BJP leaders and “this is highly condemnable”, Siddaramaiah stated.

Former Chief Minister from JD (S) party H.D. Kumaraswamy had come down heavily on the central government by stating that ruling BJP at the Centre is conspiring to make Bharat into a Hindistan by imposing Hindi language.

Kumaraswamy had slammed that the report submitted by the Committee headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to the President is shocking. It will ensure destruction of federalism in the country.

The Union government had continued its old habit. It is enacting a fake drama to control the whole of India through a hidden agenda, he said. “After reading about the recommendations, I was shocked,” he maintained.

“The recommendations of the report have potential to break the federal structure into pieces,” he reiterated.

If Hindi is imposed on India just because BJP has got a majority, India is going to suffer in the name of language.

Bharat does not stand for Hindu and Hindi. It belongs to all, Kumaraswamy had stated.