Linguistic extremism

The Maharashtra Government plans to issue one lakh auto-rickshaw permits for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region in November, but only to those applicants who speak Marathi and have a domicile certificate. Even if permanent residents of Maharashtra, settlers will be denied auto permits. A large number of auto drivers are from Bihar, where it has become an election issue. What is shocking about the fresh language politics in the cosmopolitan city of Mumbai is its militant approach. The rules on Marathi always existed, but were not insisted upon by successive governments. Should other states follow the Maharashtra example? How many languages does a driver seeking a national permit is required to know?

People are aspiring to become global citizens but the politics of the day continues to pull them back to new conflict zones: of language, food, dresses, books, cinema and religion. Past attempts to create controversies around languages have not left our politicians any wiser. Nor have they offered any solutions. If Maharashtra is going back to the era of linguistic reorganisation of states of 1956 and the subsequent Official Languages Act, 1963, when the entire South burnt over language controversies, they must know that militancy built around languages has only disturbed peaceful co-existence. 

Not to be left behind in the exploitation of languages, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has asked the government officials to sign their names in Hindi. Moving ahead in this race, Delhi Police chief B S Bassi has directed the police personnel under him to conduct all their official work in Hindi. Only in Uttar Pradesh official work is carried out in the national language; it is not mandatory elsewhere. Languages should be spared for their basic role of communication. When used as divisive political tools, they cause only havoc. People decide which language suits their needs. The southern states, where people in the past had burnt down buildings and trains to protest against the imposition of Hindi, now insist their children should learn the language. Education, migration and employment opportunities decide language preferences of the masses, not the myopic politicians.