{"id":271287,"date":"1949-09-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1949-09-12T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/constituent-assembly-debates-on-13-september-1949-part-ii"},"modified":"2016-03-18T20:45:01","modified_gmt":"2016-03-18T15:15:01","slug":"constituent-assembly-debates-on-13-september-1949-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/constituent-assembly-debates-on-13-september-1949-part-ii","title":{"rendered":"Constituent Assembly Debates On 13 September, 1949 Part Ii"},"content":{"rendered":"
Constituent Assembly Debates<\/div>\n
Constituent Assembly Debates On 13 September, 1949 Part Ii<\/div>\n
  \n    \n    \n\n \n\u00a0\n \nCONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY OF INDIA - VOLUME IX\n\n Tuesday, the 13th September 1949\n \n\nThen there is the question of accepting Sanskrit as the national language.\nIf all the South Indian friends and others accept Sanskrit, I would have\nno objection and would accept it. Of course, there is the apprehension\nthat Sanskrit is a difficult language, and it will take a long time to\nlearn it, but this is a different matter. The Hindi speaking areas are\nin a majority, hence Hindi should be adopted as the national language.\nBut the effect of this should not be the extinction of the various provincial\nlanguages and their literatures. Every provincial, language should be protected\nand the Commission or the Committee formed in this connection should take\ncare of it.\n \n\nIn the end I would only say that those who advocate the use of Roman\nscript do not understand the very principles regarding the genesis of the\nscript. The Sound of the language, which is used to express it, is formed\ninto the script : When written in Roman script, Hindi is difficult to understand\nand cannot be pronounced correctly. Hence, I say, the Roman script is totally\nunacceptable : it is ugly and has no scientific basis. Hindi written in\nDevanagri script is most scientific and should be accepted.]\n \n\nThe Honourable Shri N. V. Gadgil (Bombay: General): Mr. President, I\ndo not want to make a long speech. From what I heard yesterday and this\nmorning in this House and from what I see in the List consisting of 350\namendments, including one, to my discredit I should say, from me, I am\nimpelled to make an appeal to the House to rise to the occasion and end\nthis controversy.\n \n\nSir, the amendments range from the acceptance of Sanskrit as the national\nlanguage to the retention of English for at least one century more. In\nthis context, I do feel that the sense of responsibility with which we\nhave so far carried on the deliberations on far more important topics should\nbe appealed to.\n \n\nAs I analyse the proposition moved by my esteemed Friend Shri Gopalaswami\nAyyangar, I think that that is the best in the circumstances. It does not\nmean that that is the right one under the circumstances. But let us not\naspire to solve all the problems simultaneously. Let us leave some of them\nto the next generation to solve ten or fifteen years hence. What I find\nis that certain broad principles or broad facts clearly emerge from this\nproposition. No. I is that there is a fair measure of agreement on the\nfact that Hindi should be the official language of the Union. I think a\ndeclaration of that kind is an achievement. I find also the important fact\nthat the script should be Devanagri. I think to have one script for the\nofficial language throughout the Union territory is also on achievement.\n \n\nI further find, Sir, that there is a spirit of give-and-take in this\nproposition in as much as an interim period of fifteen years is contemplated\nduring which those whose mother-tongue is not Hindi will have an opportunity\nto pick up Hindi and get themselves familiarised with it.\n \n\nAfter all, the only difference that I find from the various amendments\nand the speeches relates to the numerals. It will be a sad tragedy if we\nwere tohang the unity and solidarity of this Country on the cross of numerals.\nI therefore appeal to my Hindi friends with whom I agree in theory-but\nbeing a practical man-somebody has credited me with being a politician-I\nappeal to them to leave something to the next generation; Let the future\nsolve this question of numerals. I do not think. it is such an insurmountable\nthing that it cannot be solved, given the necessary goodwill, but in the\npresent context where I find a good deal of emotion and passion and play\nof personalities also, whatever efforts we may make now, instead of bringing\nthe parties together, they win result in something contrary. I therefore\nappeal in particular to my esteemed Friend, Shri Purushottam Das Tandon\nthat like a big brother he must make a gesture. Hindi today admittedly\nis a provincial language.\n \n\nMr. President :I request the speaker to make no personal\n \n\nreference. It places the gentleman referred to in an awkward position.\n \n\nThe Honourable Shri N. V. Gadgil: I accept your ruling and (he reference\nmay be deleted from the proceedings. After all, Hindi is a provincial language.\nThere are languages in which literature is far more rich, and yet we have\naccepted Hindi as the national language. That itself is a great achievement\nfor the Hindi people, and if you want to persuade others, the best way\nis not with the strength of your voting numbers but by persuasion, by tactfully\nhandling the situation; if in the course of the next ten or fifteen years\nthe Hindi people were to approach the non-Hindi people through the, various\nmeans of propaganda, I have not the slightest doubt that those people who\nhave taken to English in the course of the last century and a half, will\nnot fail to take to Hindi.\n \n\nAfter all, there is not a single Indian who, if he is asked whether\nhe would have English or any of the Indian languages, will vote for English,\ninstead of any one of the Indian languages including his own mother-tongue.\nSo, let the Hindi people go about their task with hope and faith just as\nthey have done in the past and win over the rest by propaganda, not in\nan aggressive manner but in a persuasive manner. The proposition that has\nbeen moved itself provides the procedure whereby what they desire can be\nachieved, in a much better way than exists today.\n \n\nIn the course of the last three years we have not taken any important\ndecision by going into the lobby. Let us not depart from that record. Let\nthe world know that on all important questions, those which constitute\nthe foundations of the Constitution, the decisions here were taken unanimously.\nIf the decision today is taken unanimously, it will not leave any feeling\nof bitterness; but, as I said, if the Hindi people who constitute a majority\nin the country and also perhaps in this House, make that gesture, I think\nthe judgment of history will be to their credit. I do not want to take\nup the time of the House further, but I do hope that what I have suggested\nwill be acceptable to the House.\n \n\nShri T. A. Ramalingam Chettiar (Madras: General) : Mr. President, Sir,\nthis is a very difficult question for us from the South to solve. It probably\nmeans life and death for the South. unless it is going to be handled in\nthe way in which it ought to be done. Well, Sir, for us coming from the\nSouth to go back and face our people with any decision you are going to\nmake here, you will see what it will mean. I have been told by friends\nof the North that if they were to yield on the question of numerals, they\nwill be twitted by their voters and that they will find their life difficult\nwhen they go for elections. What will it be like when we, giving up our\nown languages, adopt the language of the North, go back to our provinces\nand face our electorates ? They do not seem to care for out position. Sir\nI have great admiration for the Hindi people for their great patriotism\nand the perseverance and the pesistence with whichthey are enforcing their\ndecisions, but at the same time they will have to realise that we too may\nhave some patriotism like that, we may have some patriotism and love for\nour language, for our literature and things like that.\n \n\nAfter all, where do we stand ? We have got languages which are better\ncultivated and which have greater literature than Hindi in our areas. If\nwe are going to accept Hindi, it is not on account of the excellence of\nthe language, it is not on account of its being the richest language or\non account of its being, as it has been claimed for Sanskrit, the mother\nof other languages and things like that. It is not that at all. It is merely\non account of the existence of a large number of people speaking Hindi,\nnot even a majority of the population of the country, but only among the\nlanguages which are spoken in India, Hindi claims probably the largest\nnumber of people. It is only on that basis that they are claiming that\nHindi should be accepted as the official language of the whole country.\nWell, Sir, being\n \n\npractical, we do not claim that our languages which are better cultivated,\nwhich have got better literature, which are ancient, which have been there\nfor millenniums, should be adopted.\n \n\nMr. President : May I make a request to the Members that we should not\ncompare the literatures of different languages. I do not know whether any\nMember here knows the literature of the different languages that are prevalent\nin the country and when any Member says that his own language and literature\nis richer than that of this language or that language, he propounds a proposition\nwhich cannot be accepted, and the thing is not carried any further by that\nkind of argument. Let us confine ourselves to propositions which are ordinarily\nan generally acceptable and not enter into controversies which can be avoided.\n \n\nProf. N. G. Ranga (Madras : General): How is it possible to make out\nyour case unless you compare one with the other.\n \n\nMr. President : You may make up your mind but do not say so.\n \n\nProf. N. G. Ranga : I do not think it is reasonable.\n \n\nShri T. A. Ranialingam Chettiar : Anyhow, I was saying that the claim\nof Hindi is not based on its literature, its antiquity or anything like\nthat. Well, Sir, such being the position, I want the Hindi speaking brethren\nsitting here to consider whether they I are justified in making the claim\nfor everything they want and putting us, coming from the South, in the\nfalse position which we will occupy if we are going to accept all their\nclaims. That is the things which I want them to consider and consider deeply.\n \n\nSir, on account of the realities of the situation, as I said, we have\naccepted Hindi in Nagari script as the official language. I however said\nthat you cannot use the word national language, because Hindi is no more\nnational to us than, English or any other language. We have got our own\nlanguages which are national languages and for which we have got the same\nlove as the Hindi speaking people have got for their language. We have\nagreed to Accept Hindi and the Nagari character as the official language.\nand script because, as I said, that language claims a larger number of\npeople speaking it than any other language in India. If, for that reason\nalone, you are going to say that you ought to change over tomorrow, if\nyou are to claim that it ought to be adopted As the official language today\nor tomorrow. I think it would not be accepted by the people. It would lead\nnot only to frustration and disappointment\"-'but something worse.\n \n\nI may say that the South is feeling frustrated. If there is the feeling\nof having obtained liberty, freedom and all that, there is very little\nof it felt inthe South. Sir, coming here to the capital in the northern-most\npart of the country, and feeling ourselves as strangers in this laud, we\ndo not feel that we are a nation to whom the whole thing belongs, and that\nthe whole country is ours. Unless steps are taken to make the people in\nthe South feel that they have something to do with the country, and that\nthere is some sort of unity in the country, I do not think the South is\ngoing to be satisfied at all. There will be a bitter feeling left behind.\nTo what it may lead, it is not easy to say at present.\n \n\nI have been saying that one of the most important questions is the question\nof the capital of India. The question is a very important one. People laugh\nat it sometimes; they do not know the seriousness of the matter. When a\nman has to come two thousand miles and do his things here, he naturally\nfeels that he is not in his own land. He feels as if it is a strange country\nto which he has come. In the social life of Delhi, how many Madrasis have\ngot a share, I ask the question. I have been here for the last two or three\nyears; I know very few people in Delhi or U.P. That is the state of affairs.\nUnless things are made easier for the South, unless the capital is taken\nto a place, which will common ground for all people, which would not be\nclaimed by the U.P. or the Punjab as their territory, the Southerners will\nfeel that they are going to a strange land. It has\n \n\nbeen said the other day that the Madrasis are holding positions. Does\nit show that there is any nationalism here ? Why should not Madrasis hold\nposition if the Punjabis and people from the U.P. are not able to fill\nup those positions ? After all, if you claim that you have made progress\nwithin the last two years, is it not those people who are now at the helm\nof affairs that have contributed to that'? Sir, such things are not going\nto lead to unity.\n \n\nThis question of language is much more important than even the question\nof capital, the question of offices and things like that, If you are going\nto impose. anything and leave a feeling that you are going to impose it\non other people, whether it is a real imposition or not, whether as a matter\nof fact, as somebody said, it is the natural course to which we have come\nand we could not avoid it, even if it is so, if there is this feeling that\nthere is this imposition, of the North over the South, it will lead to\nvery bitter results. I do not want to say anything by way of telling my\nfriends in the North that things will go wrong, But at the same time, I\nthink it is necessary for them to realise that, after all when we want\nto five together and form a united nation, there should be mutual adjustment\nand no question of forcing things on people who may or may not want it.\n \n\nAfter all, what is it that we have asked for ? We asked for time for\npreparation. That is the first thing that we wanted. It was agreed to by\nthe leaders on the other side. They said that they will allow fifteen years\nfor preparation. What does the draft say? The draft goes back upon it.\nIn the clause it says, for fifteen years English will continue, In, the\nsecond clause, it says there will be appointed a Commission or a Committee\nafter five years and the Committee will recommend for what purposes Hindi\ncan be introduced and the President may issue orders- accordingly. What\ndoes it mean ? At least with reference to these matters with reference\nto which order will be issued, the term of fifteen years has been cut down\nto five. Then you say, after ten years, you are going to appoint another\nCommission and that Commission is to report and on that report, orders\nwill be passed. What does this mean ? You are only saying that you are\nallowing fifteen years; but at the end of five years, and at the end of\nten years, you are going to introduce Hindi with the natural result that\nwe who are not able to take our part in the administration, in the Government,\nin the legislature and elsewhere will not be in a position to take our\nshare because we are not prepared by that time. Itis only giving a hope\nin the first portion of the section and taking away that hope and giving\nus mere stones in the latter portion of the draft.\n \n\nI do not know who is responsible for the draft. I have no doubt that\nMr. Gopalaswami Ayyangar has come out to propose it. But, I for instance\ncannot at all accept it unless the fifteen years period is made real and\nnot merely chimerical by the introduction of these Committees and Commissions\nand changes which are expected after the fifth year and the tenth year.\nThat is the main thing with which we in the South will be concerned.\n \n\nThe South is the only part of the country probably which does not feel\nthat it is going to come into line with the other provinces soon, especially\nmy part of the country where Tamil is the language spoken. We have been\npriding ourseleves that we have had nothing to do with Sanskrit. We do\nnot claim that Tamil is derived from Sanskrit, or is based on Sanskrit\nin any way. We have been trying to keep our vocabulary as pure as possible\nwithout the admixture of Sanskrit. Now, we have, to go back upon all that.\nWe have to take words from Sanskrit; we have to change our whole course\nof action. What it means to the people who have been brought tip in their\nown language, who have been priding themselves that their language has\nbeen independent of Sanskrit, and that that is the only language which\ncan stand against Sanskrit, you have to consider. In that position, we\nare to prepare\n \n\nourselves first with reluctance to give up our old position and take\nto a study of Hindi or Sanskrit. You will have first to educate the people,\nI mean make them reconcile themselves to the new order of things. Then,\nthey will have to take to the study of Hindi, to enable them to take their\nplace here among those whose mother tongue is Hindi.\n \n\nNot only that, you are permanently handicapping us. Those whose mother\ntongue is Hindi they learn only Hindi. But, we in the South, we have got\nto study not only Hindi but also our own mother tongue; we-cannot give\nup our mother tongue. There is also the regional language; we have to study\nthat. Permanently, for ever, you are handicapping us by this arrangement.\nYou in the North will have to realise what sacrifice we are making.\n \n\nAfter all, what do we ask for in return ? We say, do not complicate\nmatters by having not only the script, but also the numerals. The numerals\nare being used for purposes of accounts, for purposes of statistics and\nother things. You want to take away not only the language and the script,\nbut also the numerals. You say that our accounts will have to be kept hereafter\nin the Hindi numerals if you are going to produce them before the Income-tax\nauthorities. Sir, we have been habituated to these numerals for ever so\nlong a time. After all, the question of numerals is not a question which\nconcerns the South alone. It is a matter of convenience and it is a matter\non which people both in India and outside are concerned; statistics have\nto go outside, Things have to be put in the accounts and sciences in a\nparticular numeral. If you are going to say you have to adopt Hindi numeral,\nwhat are you going to do for other purpose? If you are to study anything\nfrom outside whether science, banking or anything else, everything will\nappear in other books only in the international numerals.\n \n\nAfter all what is the objection to international numerals ? It is only\non the ground that we ought to have 100 per cent. Hindi, because you have\nagreed to adopt the Hindi language in the Hindi script, you better adopt\nthe Hindi numerals also. You do not care what results from that. After\nan, the whole world is adopting international numerals. Why should you\nfight shy because you want to dominate the whole of India ?it is much more\nthe spirit that actuates the people that is so difficult to meet. It is\nnot even the things that are said-we have given up our language in favour\nof Hindi-but the way in which the Hindi speaking people treat us and the\nway in which they want to demand things that is more galling than anything\nwhich actually is done or is going to be done. That is the way in which\nit is said of course you ought to accept'. That is the thing that exasperates\nus. I appeal to the North Indian people not to take up that attitude, to\nhave a feeling that we are all living together in a common country, we\nhave to create a nation-there is no such thing now-and that unless there\nis give and take, unless they are also prepared to adjust themselves and\nnot demand every. body to adjust according to their dictates. It is only\nthen that India can proceed and ran be successful and form a united nation.\n \n\nOtherwise I shudder to think what may be the future for us. There ought\nto be accommodation. I need not say that history has taught us that if\nthere is trouble the outlying places will always try to take advantage\nof the trouble. We have the example of Burma and other countries. Supposing\ntomorrow there is some difficulty here, what will be the position? Unless\nyou weld the nation and you make everybody feel that they have got a share\nin the country and it is their country, unless you do that, if you go on\nkeeping the spirit of domination of one part over the other, I am sure\nthe result is not going to be for the progress or for the safety of the\ncountry. Sir, with these words I appeal again to the Hindi speaking people\nto give up their attitude of domination and of dictation and to adjust\nthemselves.\n \n\nShri Satis Chandra Samanta (West Bengal : General) : Mr. President,\nSir, I have\n \n\nmoved amendments Nos. 223 and 278. In 223, I have proposed that Bengali\nshould be taken as the official or national language of India. As regards\nlanguage, children-learn language even in the laps of their mother and\nthe language they talk is called the mother-tongue. Everybody loves his\nmother-tongue. Now we are in need of an official language, a national language\nfor the administration of our country. So, there should be no controversy\nabout the mother-tongues and languages used in different regions and so\nI have no grudge against any of the languages but I respectfully submit\nto put the case of Bengali before this august House for their favourable\nConsideration.\n \n\nBengali is a rich language; it has a long history; it has an ancient\nand a brilliant literature; it has its philology and the like. So it will\nnot be out of place to put the case of Bengali for the acceptance of House.\nI know most of my friends are bent upon taking up a language which will\nbe more intelligible to the people of India. I would say that only intelligibility\nto the largest number should not be the criterion, other things also should\nbe taken into consideration. We are taking a language to be our official\nlanguage or a national language and we should expect which it that we should\ntry to make it one of the international languages. So if we have that point\nin mind viz., that we should make out national language an international\nlanguage,-then we must see which of the languages of India has some place\nat least in the international world. I would submit that Bengali is taught\nin foreign Universities such as Oxford, Warsaw where Ravindrology is taught\nin Harvard in the U.S.A. It has also been recognised in language institution\nin Paris, Munich, Moscow and in Rome. So I submit that Bengali has some\ninternational connections. The vocabulary of Bengali should now be taken\ninto consideration.\n \n\nThere is the question of scientific terminology, Shri P. C. Ray, Jagadanda\nRoy, of Santi Niketan the late Principal G. C. Bose of Banga Basi College\nRamendra Sundar Trivedi and others tried their best and coined scientific\nterminologies in Bengali. There is a monthly magazine known as Gyan Vigyandevoted\nto the development of such scientific and technical terms. The Bengali\nlanguage has all these things.\n \n\nOver and above these, I would beg of you to consider the case of our\nrevered poet Guru Dev, Shri Rabindranath Tagore. It was he who established\nthe Viswabharathi and in that institution, he has made arrangements for\nthe teaching of Bengali and all the other languages of India and even for\nsome languages of other countries. Rabindranath's name is well-known to\none and all not only in India, but all the world over. There is not a single\nman or woman here in this House who does not know this name. Rabindranath's\nlyrics and songs are learnt and sung by all. They have been translated\ninto the various languages of the world and they have been treasured by\nall of them. In Calcutta University almost all the Indian languages are\ntaught even in Post-Graduate classes.\n \n\nAnother thing I would draw your attention to, is this. We are now a\nfree nation and in our freedom's struggle, we were all inspired by that\ngreat song Bande Mataram; for this Mantram thousands have made sacrifice.\nFor Bande Mataram thousands have sacrificed their property and all. This\nsong inspired one and all in India and this Mantra was given to us by Bankim\nChandra Chatterjee in his Ananda Math\". So I would invite your hearts and\nmind to this fact, when you are going to select your national and official\nlanguage.\n \n\nSir, I have no quarrel with any one, language I would beg of you to\nsee that Bengali contains Arabic, Turkish and Persian words right from\n1200 A. D. Later on it has drawn on from Portugeese, French, English languages.\nThough originally Bengali was Prakrit, and therefore it contains a lot\nof Sanskrit words, it has grown by drawing from all these other language\nalso. I would beg I would beg of you to consider this also when you are\nselecting the official and national language.\n \n\nTime-honoured customs, culture, literature--all these are there in Bengali.\n \n\nI would also add that Bengali has advanced in another direction also.\nIt has got Bengali typewriting machine. The Bengali typewriting machine\nhas been made by Shri Suresh Chandra Mazumdar of Ananda Bazar an honourable\nFriend of mine of this august House. There has been Bengali shorthand from\n1915. So official work can easily be carried on in this language. It will\nbe quite suitable for such work in India.\n \n\nSir, a lot of controversy has been going on and I do not want to enter\ninto any of them. I put forward before you the case of Bengali and I may\nsay that for my part I am ready to accept the language which will be accepted\nby the overwhelming majority of this House. But it should not be less than\nthree-fourth of the House, because if it is less, then there will be controversy\nand the people will not accept that language heartily. It is true that\nthose people who will have to learn the national language will be put to\nsome difficulty. We Indians have suffered so much and sacrified so much\nfor attaining freedom for our country. Can you not suffer a bit for the\nnational language of our land We should, and everybody should, be prepared\nto make that little sacrifice. The responsibility lies on us. We should\nselect that language which will be acceptable to all and for which they\nwill be prepared to make a little sacrifice. Sanskrit has been mentioned.\nHindi has been mentioned. I am not going to say anything against them,\nbecause every language should be respected. I would request friends here\nnot to get into controversies but to put their cases safely and justly\nso that the language selected may be acceptable to all of us. With these\nwords, Sir, I commend my proposition for acceptance of the House.\n \n\nShri Algu Rai Shastri (United Provinces : General) : *[Mr. President,\nwith your permission, Sir, I beg to move a small amendment to the amendment\n \n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n<\/pre>\n
*[ ] Translation of Hindustani speech.\n<\/p>\n
moved by Shri Gopalaswami Ayyanger and request the House kindly to accept
\nthe same. My<\/p>\n
amendment runs thus<\/p>\n
“That in amendment No. 65 above for the proposed new Part XIV-A, the
\nfollowing be :substituted :\n<\/p>\n
‘New Part XIV-A 301(1) The official language of the Union shall be Hindi
\nin Devanagari script.\n<\/p>\n
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (1) of this article,
\nit shall be open to the government of the Union to use English for the
\npurpose for which it has been in use all these years. during a transition
\nperiod extending over fifteen years at the most.\n<\/p>\n
(3) It shall be the duty of the Government of the Union to encourage
\nthe progressive use of Hindi in Devanagari script in Government affairs
\nin such a manner that after the end of the said transition period of 15
\nyears Hindi may replace English completely’.”\n<\/p>\n
You will find that the amendment moved by Shri Gopalaswami Ayyangar
\nis so lengthy that it constitutes a volume in itself. We are going to frame
\na Constitution and a Constitution should embody only fundamental principles.
\nArticle 99, as originally drafted by the Drafting Committee, briefly stated
\nthat the language of the Parliament shall be Hindi or English. The question
\nwas dealt therein in a very few words. But the amendment moved by Shri
\nGopalaswami Ayyangar contains many extraneous matters. When I read in the
\noriginal article drafted by the Drafting Committee for the first time these
\nfew words contained in it, that the language used in Parliament shall be
\nHindi or English, it made me think that the whole question of language
\nhad been put in clear and definite terms.\n<\/p>\n
English of course had become indispensable to us only for the reason
\nthat our country had been under the yoke of British imperialism for the
\nlast two centuries and the alien ruler’ imposed his language on us during
\nthat period, This imposed language dominated every aspect of the life of
\nour country and became supreme of course in central administration. Even
\ntoday it appears to be occupying a very<\/p>\n
prominent position. Till recently English held a dominating position
\nin our country.\n<\/p>\n
When we started the movement for our freedom, we had an ideal before
\nus. What was that ideal? What was the objective for which we launched the
\nstruggle for freedom?’ We wanted complete freedom from the British domination,
\nwe wanted swaraj (self government). We had visualised a picture of ‘Swaraj’.
\nThis word ‘Swaraj’ is a Sanskrit word and it has become current in Hindi
\nalso in its original, sense. It has a very comprehensive meaning. It means
\n‘self’ that is one’s individuality, personality are all included in this
\nword. Politically it implies that we are one nation and one country.\n<\/p>\n
We have a common and ancient history. We have a common language having
\na rich literature of its own. This Vedic Sanskrit-the ancient form of our
\nlanguage-was for long in dominant use in our country. But a language never
\nremains stationary. Our language also underwent some changes. But this
\nwas what happened in the case of all other languages. Thus the ancient
\nform of the English language which is being so much extolled here every
\nday was not the same as that is today. I have just read a book from which
\nI find that in olden days the word ‘King’ was spelt as ‘Kynge’ and was
\npronounced in a different way. The ancient style of English was also very
\nmuch different from the modern style. There were only a limited number
\nof words in English. Some specimens of that English can be found in what
\nKarl Marx wrote about the Industrial Revolution in Britain. An historian
\nhas depicted the deplorable condition of the villages in England when the
\nlands of the peasants were acquired in order to promote the trade of wool
\nin foreign countries and farms for rearing sheep were established on them.
\nan event on which the famous book”Deserted Village” was written. Some extracts
\nfrom the history have been, taken by Karl Marx in order to give a picture
\nof their conditions and these ex-tracts are to found in his famous book
\n“Das Kapital”.. The language in which the condition of their English village
\nis depicted provides us with a beautiful specimen of English used in those
\ndays.\n<\/p>\n
The language current in those days bears no relation to the modern English.
\nThere is a wide difference between the style of ancient English and that
\nadopted Ruskin, Dickens, Shakespeare, and Milton. It is thus plain that
\nlanguage never remains static. It is changing and developing. Similarly
\nthe language which we are going to make the national language of the land
\nhas descended from the very Vedic Sanskrit which was at one time a living
\nlanguage and was for centuries occupying a place of honour in our country.\n<\/p>\n
We had been aspiring to recapture our fundamental and real self. The
\nrose plant of our national life had so long remained buried deep under
\nthe ice of subjugation. Its leaves had withered, its flowers were dry and
\ndead. Only one of its stems-I mean language-had some life left in it. But
\neven in the darkest hour we knew that spring would return, we were sure
\nthat the ice of Subjugation will melt and our rosy life would bloom again,
\nand we knew that the plant of our life would send forth beautiful rose
\nflowers of its own. Our country had remained for centuries under foreign
\nrule. Our rich and fertile plans were invaded by foreigners many a time;
\nultimately we lost our freedom and became slaves of the foreigners. We
\nhave always been making an effort to throw off the yoke of foreign rule.
\nThe national movement for freedom was but an aspect of this perennial effort
\nof our people.\n<\/p>\n
The movement for liberating ourselves which our people have carried
\non had a long history. The last phase of our armed efforts for liberation
\nwas the battle that we were forced to fight against the British Imperialist
\nin 1857. The movement of 1857, known as the mutiny, was but an expression
\nof that striving of our people for freedom. While the Objectives Resolution
\nwas being discussed in this House I had said that that movement of 1857
\nhad been fertilised by the blood of such martyrs as the Rani of Jhansi
\nand Bahadur Shah, the<\/p>\n
Begums of the Nawab of Oudh and Tippu Sultan, Tantia Tope and Nana Farnavis.\n<\/p>\n
Ultimately the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi had made it possible for
\nus to witness that dawn of freedom in which we had assembled to pay our
\nhomage to the great departed and sin,, the songs of our freedom. Now that
\nwe have attained sivaraj it should be possible for our ‘swa’ (self) to
\nmanifest itself. It is a matter of deep regret that there are some people
\nhere today who say that we have no language of Our own and that in fact
\nwe have nothing in common and that we have to create and develop all these
\nthings anew. But I would like to tell them that we do possess a language
\nthat is common to us, that is understood by a large number of people of
\nthis country. At least that is my experience.\n<\/p>\n
In 1942 while returning from Bombay I had to rush straight to the Frontier
\nProvince. Khan brothers arc not here amongst us and I may add that their
\nabsence is a source of agony to our hearts. But I had on that occasion
\nthe pleasure of meeting, the Khan brothers in a camp on the bank of river
\nSarab. What do you think was the language in which I carried on my conversations
\nand talks with the common volunteers in that camp ? It was not Pushto.
\nIt was in no circumstances English. Will it surprise you what I tell you
\nthat it was simple Hindi-the Hindi in which I am at present addressing
\nthe House-that I talked with the volunteers and I found that they understood
\nmy Hindi quite well. Previously in 1928, I had accompanied Lal Lajpat Raito
\nMadras; I may inform you that there also I had talked to the people in
\nHindi, for- the very simple reason that I am not accustomed to speak in
\nEnglish. Is it necessary for me to say that all those with whom I had occasion
\nto talk understood my Hindi well and it may surprise some of my friends
\nto learn that people there also talked in Hindi with me ?\n<\/p>\n
During the Congress session of Cocanada, the annual session of the Hindi
\nSahitya Sammelan was also held there under the Presidentship of the late
\nShri Jamanalal Bajaj. I had there the occasion to hear a recitation of
\nHindi poem by some local girls. Perhaps a better recitation than that cannot
\nbe given even by the people of northern India.\n<\/p>\n
What I mean to convey is that Hindi is understood in every province
\nand we are pledged to make is our national language. It was Mahatmaji who
\ngave birth and inspiration to this idea. We wanted that we should be free
\nand that the English should go away from our land. We had hoped that with
\nthe departure of the English people their language would also disappear
\nfrom this land and that we would be able to use our language in place of
\nEnglish. We had not learnt English voluntarily. It was introduced here
\nunder the scheme prepared by Lord Macaulay. The alien rulers wanted cheap
\n‘clerks and to this end English was taught us. Those who learnt this language
\nat the initial stage of its introduction came in close contact with the
\nadministration and the government and this, as was natural created a love
\nin them for English.\n<\/p>\n
We had thought that with the arrival of freedom, our dress, our language,
\nwill regain their lost position and that freedom in its wake would bring
\nnew ideas, sentiments and inspiration to us. The dawn of independence has
\nactually brought all this with it :\n<\/p>\n
One who loves his language, dress and diet will never fall into the
\nsubjection of others. There was a natural longing in the people’s mind
\nto bring the national language to its own in free India.\n<\/p>\n
The question may be asked as to what is our national language. There
\nis no doubt that Sanskrit is the mother of all the languages spoken in
\nIndia. An of them are derived from Sanskrit; for their vocabulary they
\nhave drawn upon Sanskrit which is an inexhaustible source of words. But
\nSanskrit, the mother of the current Indian languages, cannot be enthroned
\ntoday on the pedestal of the national language. Its eldest and the seniormost
\ndaughter alone can today be the national language. There are many other
\npeople, Sir, in this country, but God has bestowed upon you the ability
\nto adorn<\/p>\n
this high office and we earnestly wish you to be the first President
\nof the Indian Republic. Who doesnot aspire for this office? But everybody
\nhas not the merit to occupy this august office. If we want that the President
\nof the first Constituent Assembly of India should be the first President
\nof the Indian Republic, does that mean that we are making any exaggerated
\nclaims or that we are giving vent to avarice ?]<\/p>\n
Mr. President: *[The Honourable member is talking beside the, point.]<\/p>\n
Shri Algu Rai Shastri: *[Discussion as to what should be our. national
\nlanguage, implies our acceptance, of the fact that English cannot be our
\nnational language. Now the question arises as to which one of the languages
\ncurrent in the country can be made the national language of our State.
\nHindi alone has acquired an inter-provincial status. A majority of the
\npeople of the country speak Hindi.\n<\/p>\n
———————————————————————\n<\/p>\n
* [ ] Translation of Hindustani speech.\n<\/p>\n
Some non-Hindi speaking friends have claimed that their literature is
\nricher than ours. I may concede that claim, but can they honestly say that
\nthe number of the people speaking their language is greater than that of
\nthose who speak Hindi. If the answer be in the negative, I would like to
\nask them, which course wouldbe more proper whether to replace English by
\na language and a script that is spoken and written by a majority of the
\npeople or by some other language? Hindi has rivalry with English alone.
\nIt has no rivalry with Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Canarese or Pushto or any
\nother language. The English Government has gone, II. English Governor-General
\nand Governors have gone. Now an Indian Governor-General and Governors have
\nbeen appointed In this context it is but fit that an Indian language should
\nalso take the place of English here.\n<\/p>\n
Having due consideration for all the relevant factors relating to a
\nlanguage, I mean simplicity and intelligibility, etc., etc. Hindi alone
\ncan be. the national language of our State. The supporters of Hindi have
\nno quarrel or hostility with any one. They support Hindi only because Hindi
\nalone can claim to be the’ most popular and widely spoken language in India.
\nI fail to see why any one should feel in his heart that the Hindi speaking
\npeople want to impose Hindi on non-Hindi people ? There is no question
\nof imposition. It is the House or the Drafting Committee that have suggested
\nthat Hindi shall be the Official language of the State and the Parliament.
\nIf this is taken to be imposition, it is not from us rather it is from
\nthe House or the Drafting ,Committee.\n<\/p>\n
Other Indian languages have not acquired an all-India position, they
\nare confined to their own regions. May be that some of them are spoken
\nby a few people outside their regions also, but no other language has acquired
\nan all India importance, Hindi is spoken in U.P., Bihar C.P., Madhya Bharat,
\nRajputana and Peshawar. It is understood in almost every province. A language
\nthat is so widely spoken mut be made the national-language of the Indian
\nUnion.\n<\/p>\n
The credit for making Hindi the official language of the Union does
\nnot go to us the Hindi speaking people, but in fact it goes to others,
\nwho though they cannot speak Hindi fluently, have no command and control
\nover Hindi and have not had any long practice in its use yet admit that
\nHindi is simple and intelligible.\n<\/p>\n
It may not be out of place if I mention a few of the merits of Hindi
\nscript. One of my Friends here has suggested that we should adopt Roman-script.
\nHe is a learned man, who can doubt the learning of my honourable Friend,
\nShri Anthony ? But we should consider every aspect of this script. There
\nare two kinds of script one the shorthand script and the other ordinary
\nor longhand script. It is necessary in the longhand script that a word
\nbe written exactly in the way it is pronounced so that there may not be
\nany mistake about its correct pronunciation. That is. the most characteristic
\nfeature of the ordinary or longhand script. But in a shorthand script different
\ndevices are<\/p>\n
adopted to represent the greatest number of words with the minimum number
\nof signs.\n<\/p>\n
We begin the primary education of our children with our script etc.
\nIf we say but use it to represent the sound of it would be an unscientific
\nmethod and we will be imparting a wrong training to our children, if we
\nadopt this method. A B C D etc. are the alphabets of the Roman script.
\nWe use A & B to represent the sound of Similarly the letter C is used
\nto represent the sound of This is not at all scientific. Rather it is an
\natrocious script. This is a very sericus defeat in the Roman script.The
\nPitman’s shorthand system has also adopted, as the reporters here are well
\naware, a script based on phonetic system of the Hindi script. Pitman adopted
\nthe phonetic arrangement of the letters for formulating his system. The
\nshorthand reporters have found that arrangement to be very easy and have
\nadopted it.\n<\/p>\n
Therefore, the controversy regarding the script should end. So far as
\nscript is concerned, Roman or any other script can bear no comparison to
\nthe Hindi script. The Hindi script stands far superior to any other script.
\nAs I have already said the letters of a script should have a definite and
\nintelligible phonetic basis.\n<\/p>\n
From this point of view the Urdu script also is found to have the same
\ndefect that is found in Roman script. There the pronunciation of letter
\nand the sound they represent are quite different. The letter ‘Alif’ is
\nused to represent the sound of ; we pronounce ‘Lam’ but this letter represents
\nthe sound of. If we have to write ‘Lokat” we will use the letters ‘Lam’,
\n‘Wav’, ‘Kaf’, ‘Alif’ and ‘Tey’. The pronunciation of letters, in Urdu have
\nno relation to the sound for which they are used. In a longhand script
\nthis should not be the case : of course in a shorthand script we may do
\nso.\n<\/p>\n
On the other hand the script and the alphabets of Hindi ire not only
\nsimple but can also be learnt with very great ease. The pronunciation of
\nits vowels is simple and scientific. The fact is that they can be pronounced
\nwith natural ease and they are also pronounced very clearly. Thus the vowel
\noccurs as the first vowel of the Hindi alphabet and possesses a simple
\nsound unlike the vowels of the other scripts. It stands for one single
\nsound and not for any other. The other vowels also have the same scientific
\ncharacter, and are all scientifically arranged. Moreover the Hindi alphabets
\nare divided into certain groups according to the order of their pronunciation.\n<\/p>\n
We have thus the classification that the vowel and the ‘ consonant group
\nand are pronounced from the throat, while the vowel the consonant group
\nand are palatal in pronunciation. In this manner the other consonants and
\nvowels are also arranged according to the part of the vocal organs through
\nwhich they are pronounced. Again the different letters and the groups have
\nalso been assigned to different deities–some to ‘Indra’ and some to ‘Varuna’
\nand so on.\n<\/p>\n
It is plain, therefore, that no student can have any difficulty in mastering
\nthis language which is entirely scientific in character. I believe that
\nany student can very well pick up–any, even master-its alphabets within
\na few weeks. I believe that the scholarly and distinguished lawyer members
\nof the Drafting Committee also had an appreciation of this fact, for they
\nalso have in their draft provided for Hindi in Devanagari script as the
\nofficial language of the Union. I add that even if only Hindi is referred
\nto in the Draft, it would imply the use of Devanagari script as well. Just
\nas we also imply the use of the Roman script when we refer to the English
\nlanguage.\n<\/p>\n
Under that Draft English shall continue to be our official language
\nfor the next fifteen years. None of us can deny that the use of that language
\nis essential for carrying on our work and that we cannot totally remove
\nit earlier. All of us, therefore, agree that we shall keep English for
\nour administrative and official purposes for the next fifteen years. But
\nit is my belief that within this period of fifteen years, all the Government
\nofficials would be in a position<\/p>\n
to have a very good and sound knowledge of Hindi. I do not doubt in
\nthe least that they can do so with the greatest possible case and convenience.
\nThe period of 15 years is not a small one. Hindi also is not a difficult
\nlanguage to learn. In any case it is not such as cannot be picked up by
\nour Government officials within this period.I am reinforced in my belief
\nby the consideration that the members of the I.C.S. used to pick up several
\nIndian languages within the period of two years of their training. It cannot,
\ntherefore, be doubled that these very people would be able to learn Hindi
\nvery well within this period of fifteen-years. I know that they are men
\nof ability. I also know that they have all the facilities and opportunities
\nfor learning Hindi. I know that they are officials of ail Independent Government
\nand are men of learning and light. It is, therefore, my conviction that
\nthese people can have a very sound knowledge of Hindi within this period.\n<\/p>\n
English is not a language which is the language of the people of any
\npart of our country. Besides it is not the official language of any of
\nthese regions. So far this language had been that of the ruling class of
\nthe alien Government. It was, in other words, a language of their offices
\nand people working in those offices for the benefit of the alien rulers.
\nBut this foreign language was mastered by our administrators and civilians
\nthrough great labours. I put it, therefore, to you that if they could master
\nof foreign language-the language which did not have its origin in this
\ncountry, a language which had been brought to this country by foreigners
\nand which had been imposed on this country by those foreigners as the official
\nlanguage for their own advantage and benefit–could be mastered by those
\nof us who wanted to go in for administrative services, I put it to you,
\ncan it be said that these very people would not be able to put forth sufficient
\nefforts to master Hindi which is a language of their own country? When
\nyou could go through such hard toil and labour for mastering English, I
\nbelieve, you will have to put forth much less’ labour to learn Hindi which
\nis much simpler than English and can, therefore, be learnt with much greater
\nease than that foreign language.\n<\/p>\n
Even our children would not find any difficulty in learning this language.
\nIn this connection I cannot forget that many of the existing administrators
\nwould be retiring sooner or later. Those who would be filling their places
\ncan very easily learn the Hindi Language within the period of fifteen years
\nwhich has been provided for in the Draft.\n<\/p>\n
I would like in this connection to state that if we have to make Hindi
\nour national language and to develop it for all our purposes; it is essential
\nthat every man of learning in this country should acquire a thorough knowledge
\nof Hindi. This does not imply that Hindi would be, in any way, taking the
\nplace of the regional languages. If would not do so. Its evolution however
\nis essential. English is a language that had been evolving from the very
\nbeginning. It has also been for centuries the national language of another
\ncountry and that country has imposed it on other countries as well for
\nits own benefit; but our children who have had to learn it under compulsion,
\nhave become denationalised. Their ideas and sentiments have-been more or
\nless anglicised and they have begun to approach the problems of fife from
\nan alien point of view. If is plain, therefore, that English cannot be
\nour national language. Besides we have not to remain tied down to the Dominion
\nof Britain for all time to come. it is, therefore our duty to consider
\nthat after the advent’ of freedom, it is essential for our dignity and
\nself-respect that we should have a national language. We know fully well
\nthe good and the evil that English education. It Is an order that the people
\nof this country may proudly claim Hindi as their national language and
\nDevanagari as their national script that it is necessary that Hindi also
\nshould evolve. We should not be governed by narrow or selfish considerations
\nand<\/p>\n
if we approach the problem of national language with that broad vision.
\nwe would succeded. But if we do not do so, instead of making any progress
\nour country will go down in disaster.In this connection I would like to
\nrefer to the example of Estonia and Lithuania which had made a demand for
\ntheir independence after the last Great War. Their main reason for demand
\nof their freedom was that under the alien rulers attempts had been made
\ncompletely to suppress their language and that they had to carry on an
\nintensive struggle and undergo any amount of sufferings for protecting
\nand maintaining the existence of their own language These petty States
\nare not bigger than the district of Gorakhpur in our province. These people
\nhad protected and defended their language against the attempts of the Germans
\nto suppress them. If they could do so, it is our duty also to do the same.\n<\/p>\n
I would like to make it clear that all of us here want the development
\nand promotion of the regional languages, for all of them are very dear
\nto Hindi Several of these regional languages are very sweet and very well
\ndeveloped. Naturally I cannot and do not lay any claim to the superiority
\nof Hindi as compared to any of the regional languages. But from the inter-provincial
\npoint of view, I can say that Hindi has a better claim for adoption as
\nthe national language, because it is not a language of any one province
\nalone. If is the language of many provinces. I concede that there have
\nbeen great poets in other languages as well and I would not like to institute
\nany comparison between them and the poets of Hindi, such as Kabir and Tulsi.
\nIt is not necessary for me to go into this kind of comparison. I do concede
\nthat the Tamil Veda of Shri Tiruvalluvar of the Deccan is is _great a composition-probably
\ngreater-than that of Kabir. I do not dispute, therefore, that great literature
\nexists in other languages as well.\n<\/p>\n
But I submit in all humility that the number of people speaking Telugu
\nor Tamil is very much less than that of the people speaking and understanding
\nHindi. So far as I am concerned, the question whether a regional language
\nhas a great literature or not, is quite irrelevant to the decision of the
\nquestion of the official language of India. We have to choose one language
\nI-or this purpose and if we were to follow the principles of democracy
\nand the rule of majority decision, we will have to accept Hindi, far from
\nall points of views—, it is an undisputed fact that the number of people
\nspeaking Hindi is greater than the number of people speaking other languages.
\nBesides it is a very simple as well as a developed language.\n<\/p>\n
I cannot resist the temptation of citing a few passages from the works
\nof the great Hindi poet, Surdas, in order to give you an idea of the high
\nlevel of development reached by Hindi.\n<\/p>\n
“Piyabinu nagini kaladi raat, Kabahunk yamini hoti Jitnahiya, Dansi
\nulati hai jaat, Mantra na footat yantra nahi lagat, Ayu sirani iaat, Soor
\nShyam bin bikut bit-aldni, Muri muri lahiri khaat.”\n<\/p>\n
“Alas, my darling is away, The snake like night curls and curls, The
\nfangs of lightning pierce my heart, Incantations or amulets-nothing avoilt,
\nWhile my life is ebbing away, The separation of ShYatn says Stir, ‘Keeps
\nthe lady leve in paroxysi?is at pain.’ I would like any one here to give
\nme a parallel passage from the literature of any other language. I may
\nadd that the Hindi literature is full of numerous: gems one better than
\nthe other. Thus I may cite a passage ‘from Tulsidas which is as follows
\n:-\n<\/p>\n
“Arun parag jalaj ari neeke Shashi hi bhoosh ahi lobh ami ke.” “The
\ntender and delicate Lotus Its basom red with passion Rises in a waving,Serpentine
\nmotionTo kiss the moon or sucking nectar.”\n<\/p>\n
The reference. is to Ram applying- Vermillion with his hand to the moonlike
\nface of Sita, his betrothed.]<\/p>\n
Mr. President: *[I would like the Member to remember that this is a
\nConstituent Assembly and not a poets’ gathering.]<\/p>\n
Shri Algu Rai Shastri : *[Sir, I was just giving an illustration in
\norder to refute the suggestion that the Hindi language is<\/p>\n
undeveloped and does ‘not have any literature worth the name. This assertion
\nhas been made here and I felt it necessary that something should be cited
\nto refute it and to show that Hindi has a great and extensive literature.\n<\/p>\n
But I would like to submit, Sir, that we are not demanding the adoption
\nof Hindi as the national language on account of its literature. but because
\nit is a language of the people and specially it is a language which, in
\ncomparison to other languages is spoken by a larger number of people and
\nthat it is a language whose area and sphere are very wide. It is for an
\nthese reasons that we fire adopting it as the official language and the
\nfact is that it is not we who are adopting it. it is history that is compelling
\nus to adopt it. Every one of us has to accept it as the official language,
\nsimply because every one of us desires to replace the foreign language
\nby a language of our own country. The adoption of Hindi is unavoidable
\nin order to remove English from its present position of official language
\nof the Union.\n<\/p>\n
When we have no other option but to adopt Hindi in this manner, I would
\nsubmit that there should be no dispute about its script, for it has already
\nits script-a script in which the ‘Rigveda’ was written-a script in which
\n‘Hanuman Chalisa’ is written-the script in which all the books from the
\nRigveda down to the Hanuman Chalisa of Tulsidas have, been written, is
\ncalled the Devanagari script. I doubt whether we can, even if we search
\nthe whole world, discover a script as beautiful, as scientific as the Devanagari
\nis. The script of our national language is Devanagari. and the numerals
\nare an integral part of that script. The meaning of many. Hindi couplets
\nwould be lost if the numerals were changed. Thus Tulsidas has said:\n<\/p>\n
Jaise ghatat nu ank nav (‘)Nav (‘) ke likhat pahad.”\n<\/p>\n
This numeral (9) is of the Devanagari script. Again Tulsidas says<\/p>\n
“Jag te Rahoo chatis has (36)Ram Charon che teen ( 63 )Tulsi dekhoo
\nvichari keyaHai yeh matou pravin.”\n<\/p>\n
“Tulsidas says that a person should have an attitude of detachment forwards
\nthe world just as the numerals 3 and 6 appear to be in the figure 36. while
\nhe should have an attachment to the feet of Ram just as the figure 6 and
\n3 have in the figure 63, for to do so in the best wisdom according to Tulsi.”Naturally
\nthese passages would lose all meaning if the form of numerals is changed.\n<\/p>\n
I, therefore, submit, Sir, that the numerals are even today in use in
\nDevanagari just as they were to be found in the Sanskrit Rigveda and Yajurveda.
\n1, therefore, fail to understand the basis of this discussion about numerals
\nhere. It is insinuated against us that we are quarreling over a Very minor
\nmatter and that our insistence upon the Devanagari from of Hindi numerals
\nis, as a matter of fact, extremely unreasonable and unjustifiable. But
\nI would like to submit very humbly that the matter which may appear to
\nyou to be very minor, may ultimately have very dangerous implications.
\nA person may be able to take two seers of milk, but no one would like to
\ntake a small head of a fly with it, for, he can never digest that. In the
\nsame manner, I would submit, Sir that we are unable to accept violence
\nbeing done to the form of the numerals, and what is more important we see
\nno reason why an(] for whom we should do violence to them.\n<\/p>\n
It is being argued by some people that the change sought to be made
\nis very minor, because a number of the numerals, more particularly (1),
\nare similar in form. But, in this connection, Sir, I would like you to
\nvisualise the situation that is likely to arise. in our province, if we
\nagree to the adoption of international form of numerals. We have constituted
\nin our province Village Panchayats’ and ‘Village, Assemblies’. For each
\ngroup of 5 Village Assemblies or Councils we have established a ‘Panchayat
\nCourt’. All these are now working there. Our province has a population
\nof 60 millions and is, therefore, in no way smaller than England–rather
\nit is bigger than the latter. In that province, we have established these,
\nPanchayats for the<\/p>\n
villages and these bodies have been authorised to, levy taxes. They
\nwill have to maintain accounts and keep records and registers. Just think
\nof how they would be maintaining their accounts. I am sure, they cannot
\nbut use the Hindi method of accounting that is to say-they, would write
\nRs. 1-4-3 in the following manner :\n<\/p>\n
In it the vertical line stands for the quarter of a rupee. Now the form
\nof I in English is, as a matter of fact, used for indicating 1\/4 of a rupee
\nin the Hindi method of accounting. But the same symbol if drawn outside
\nthe bracket like symbol, its value is taken to be one pice.\n<\/p>\n
We have thus been developing our numerals in this country. Is it your
\nintention now to throw away all these improvements that we have made through
\nour history for no reason or rhyme ? It has been argued here, Sir, that
\nthe use of Devanagari numerals would cause any amount of dislocation in
\nindustry and chaos in our army. But I fail to understand, the kind of difficulties
\nthat would arise in the industrial sphere. We can easily avoid any difficulty
\nby specifying the design of the machinery that we seek to import from foreign
\ncountries. This is what happens usually in trade and commerce. Even the
\nordinary traders send their designs and the ‘Sarics’ and other articles
\nmanufactured according to these designs are imported from foreign countries.\n<\/p>\n
Moreover, Sir, will we always continue to import all our machinery from
\nforeign countries ? I believe that sooner or later, we will be casting
\nthem here and in that case it would be quite easy for us to use our own
\nnumerals. I may add that our numerals are a matter of great fortune to
\nus. We are peopleof a great culture. Our history is glorious and grand.
\nIt does not befit us to humiliate ourselves and go down on all fours before
\nthe foreigners. I am am confident that we can manufacture all the articles
\nwe need and I am confident that our country has the potential capacity
\nto do so.\n<\/p>\n
I may now say a few words, Sir, to those who feel that they would have
\nconsiderable difficulties in learning Hindi. I would like to assure them
\nthat they would find Hindi to be a very easy language to learn, once they
\nmake an attempt to learn it. I admit that in view of the extensive use
\nof English for all the official purposes and in all the branches of administration,
\nit would not be possible for us to replace it at once by Hindi and if an
\nattempt was made to do so, there would be considerable administrative dislocation.\n<\/p>\n
I can, no doubt, speak Hindi with much greater ease and facility than
\nmany of my other friends. We have, therefore, to give some time to such
\nfriends to acquaint themselves very well with the Hindi language, so that
\nthey may be able to express themselves in idiomatic Hindi and may be able
\nto think in it as well as to weep and sing in it. I recognise that only
\nthat language can be natural to any person in which he can sing out his
\njoys and weep out his sorrows., I concede that time is needed by such friends
\nto have felicity in the use of Hindi. A specified period has to be provided
\nfor them and I submit, Sir, that the period of fifteen years is more than
\nadequate. It is my belief that we can replace English by Hindi, within
\nthis period, provided we make a sincere attempt to do so. Of course, if
\nwe do not seek to do so, the position would be otherwise. But if we really
\nmake an effort, there should be no difficulty in replacing English by Hindi
\nwithin this period.\n<\/p>\n
I have therefore, in the second part of my amendment proposed that during
\nthis period of transition, every attempt should be made to put Hindi in
\nplace of English wherever it can be done. I visualise this process to be
\nsimilar to that of erecting a new house in place of an old one. It is plain
\nthat the first has to be removed and the second has to be erected, and
\nwe have provided a period of fifteen years for effecting this change and
\nit is my belief that this, work can be completed with very great ease during
\nthat period.\n<\/p>\n
But who shall be responsible for effecting this change ? Obviously the
\nGovernment, and I have,<\/p>\n
therefore, put in the second part of my amendment that it shall be the
\nduty of the Government to take steps to effect this change. But in the
\ndraft that has been put before us, such details as the formation of a Committee
\nor the appointment of a Commission have been included in regard to this
\nmatter. As we read this article, Sir, we find that the Drafting Committee
\nhas added a new clause, there was previously only one clause. In this manner
\nthe Committee want to go into minor details and they do not want to leave
\nany possible matter for the decision of the Parliament or the Government
\nto come.\n<\/p>\n
We, have, Sir, provided for adult franchise in our Constitution and
\nrepresentatives elected on that basis shall be composing the future Parliament
\nand I believe they shall be making their own arrangement for the entire
\ncountry in their own manner. But it is really funny that we would not like
\nto leave even such matters for their decision as the salaries to be paid
\nto our Civilians the number of people to be employed, the facilities to
\nbe granted to them and such other matters. Probably it is feared that persons
\nof no education may be elected to the Parliament and such persons may cause
\nany amount of dislocation and chaos. We,. in our anxiety, have included
\nprovisions with regard to the judiciary, to the type of the houses that
\nare to be occupied by them, the salaries that are to be paid to them and
\nthe work that is to be done by them.\n<\/p>\n
The same tendency appear to me behind this draft regarding language.
\nThere would be a Commission. there would be a Committee. All Acts, bye-laws,regulations
\nin all provinces shall be in English. All these matters are found in this
\ndraft,–notwithstanding the fact that Hindi is already in use in many provinces
\nand is in use without any difficulty and with all the possible success
\nwith which a language can be used for official purposes. But you are bent
\nupon putting in such provisions in spite of all these facts.\n<\/p>\n
I admit that it is almost an impudence on my part to seek to improve
\nthe amendment which Shri Gopalaswami Ayyangar, who is a great thinker,
\na scholar, an expert, and an aged and experienced person, has moved. But
\nI submit, Sir, would not the purpose be served if we leave to the future
\nGovernment to make such arrangements as may enable Hindi to take the place
\nof English within the period of fifteen years and to become the official
\nlanguage of this country ? The Government is today in the hands of the
\nrepresentatives of the people and I submit, it is time that the language
\nof the people should also be the language of the State and that language
\nof the people is Hindi, simply because it is understood in almost all provinces.\n<\/p>\n
Some friends have mixed up Hindustani, Urdu and such other matters with
\nthe question of Hindi. I do not understand how a couplet of Nazir who was
\na great poet of Agra should be considered ‘something outside the Hindi
\nliterature. . I may cite it here.\n<\/p>\n
“Abra tha chaya huva aur fasal thi barsat ki, Thi zamin pahne huve vardi
\nhari banat ki.” “It was the season of rains and the sky was cloudy. All
\naround the earth was covered with green verdure.”\n<\/p>\n
I would submit, Sir, that this is a Hindi verse composed by him and
\nthat it is one of the Hindi styles or dialects. Again-\n<\/p>\n
“Rab ka shukar ada kar bhai Jisne hamari gaye banai.”\n<\/p>\n
“Oh brother render thanks to God who has created the cow for us”‘ is
\na couplet which all of us read in a book written by some Moulvi Sahib of
\nMeerut. Are we to consider it as something not belonging to the Hindi literature?
\nI do not think so. It is but natural that to a Moulvi or a Moulana such
\nwords would very naturally occur. But we have assimilated all these words
\nin our language and I am sure, these words would remain there. All these
\nconstituted a style of Hindi and are not beyond the purview of the Hindi
\nlanguage.\n<\/p>\n
No doubt, some people claim Urdu to be a language. But Urdu is not a
\nregional language, nor is it a language used or spoken in any region, or
\nby any particular community. All of us use Urdu words. I was educated under
\na Noulvi. He<\/p>\n
used to teach us :\n<\/p>\n
“Fakat tafavat hai nam hi ka, Darasal sab aik hi hai yaro, Ja ab safi
\nke mouj mai hai, Usi ka jalva hubab men hai, Kabili kurb nahi be-adabon
\nki sohabat, Door rahe unse dil jinko tera pas nahi.”\n<\/p>\n
“The only difference or dispute is in respect to names. In substance
\nthe reality is one. The same God whose light is visible in the clear waters
\nof the Ocean, is to be perceived in the bubbles. One. should not, even,
\nfor a moment, remain in the company of the disrespectful and it is desirable
\nthat our heart should be away from those who do not have the love of God
\nin their hearts.”\n<\/p>\n
I submit, Sir, that these great thoughts cannot be exiled from our language.Shri
\nAlgu Rai Shastri : *[So, Sir, all these words are of the Hindi language
\nand we cannot exclude them from it. My submission is that the words of
\nother languages which have become cur-rent in- Hindi must be considered
\nto be part and parcel of the Hindi language. I would go further and assert
\nthat that language alone should be termed Hindi which has this tendency
\nof including all such words.\n<\/p>\n
Before I conclude, Sir, I would like to say a few words about the content
\nof the Hindi language. There is a great dispute about the real character
\nof Hindi. But I would submit in this connection that Hindi is Hindi and
\nno other definition of this language can be given. Just as I may describe
\nmyself by saying what I am, similarly Hindi is described by saving that
\nHindi is Hindi. Really I fail to understand what other definition can be
\ngiven. Bhojpuri, Maithili, Khadi Boli and Brij Bhasha are two forms of
\nHindi. Thus the following passage of Brij Bhasha is part of Hindi literature.\n<\/p>\n
“Ankhiya Hari darshan ki piasi”\n<\/p>\n
‘Myeyes wishfully long for the sight of God.”\n<\/p>\n
Similarly the following passage in Maithili<\/p>\n
“Sar binu sarsij, sarsij binu sar<\/p>\n
Ki sarsij binu soore”.\n<\/p>\n
“The Lotus with the Lake and the Lake without the Lotus have no significance.”
\nSimilarly,<\/p>\n
“Rab ka shukra ada kar bhai Jisne hamari Gaye banai”\n<\/p>\n
of Meerut is also Hindi. I do not think any one can prevent Moulana
\nHifzur Rahman from speaking the type of Hindi he pleases, for, there can
\nbe no dispute about its true nature since it can be taken down in Devanagari
\nScript and it can be understood by quite a good number of people in this
\ncountry.\n<\/p>\n
The dispute regarding numerals I submit, Sir, is without any substance.
\nThe fact is that the numerals are but an integral part of the Devanagari
\nscript and cannot be distinguished from it and we should, therefore, accept
\nDevanagari numerals. Such matters as the appointment of a Commission formation
\nof a Committee for replacing English by Hindi within the period of fifteen
\nyears, should be left to the future Government for being decided in the
\nmanner it pleases.\n<\/p>\n
With these words, I submit my amendment to you. I concede, Sir, that
\nwithin this period of fifteen years, English should continue to be used.
\nIt is illy conviction, that in our Constitution there should be an article
\ndeclaring Hindi in the Devanagari script as our official language and that
\nit should make provision that within the transitional period of fifteen
\nyears, English should continue to be in use but that after the expiry of
\nthat period, Hindi should completely replace English and within this period
\nof fifteen years, it should be the duty of the Government to find out ways
\nand means through which English can be completely replaced by Hindi.\n<\/p>\n
I may add, Sir, that I have no ill-will towards English. I believe there
\nwould be English in our Universities even after the expiry of that period
\nand that our students would be acquiring the knowledge of different languages.
\nBut I believe, Sir, that the signatures on our treaties etc. shall be in
\nHindi. Our national language shall be Hindi and our script shall be Devanagari
\nwhich we have got from the Rigveda’ and whose words have been borrowed
\nfrom that great ocean of learning. It has been fertilized by waters from
\nthat sourcethe source which has given-life and light to the world-the source
\nwhose literature, philosophy and codes are<\/p>\n
invaluable treasures of the entire world.\n<\/p>\n
With these words, Sir, I conclude my observations and I thank you, Sir,
\nfor having been kind enough to give me so much time for expressing my views.)<\/p>\n
The Honourable Dr.Syama Prasad Mookerjee (West Bengal: General) Mr.
\nPresident, Sir, we are considering a matter which is of vital importance,
\nnot to the people belonging to one or other of the provinces of India,
\nbut to the entire millions of India’s population. In fact, Sir,the decision
\nthat we are about to take,even if we ignore for the time being the points
\nof difference, vital though they may appear. to some, the decision that
\nwe are about to take is something which has never been attempted in the
\nhistory of India for the last thousands of years. Let us therefore at the
\nvery outset realise that we have been able to achieve something which our
\nancestors did not achieve.\n<\/p>\n
Some Members have spoken not doubt out of the warmth of their feeling
\nand have tried to emphasise upon the points of difference. I shall say
\na few words on the points of difference a little later. But I would like
\nthe House to rise to the height of the occasion and flatter itself that
\nit is making a real contribution to the national unity of our Motherland
\nof which we and those who come after us may be legitimately proud.\n<\/p>\n
India has been a country of many languages. If we dig into the, past,
\nwe will find that it has not been possible for anybody to force the acceptance
\nof one language by all people in this country. Some of my Friends spoke
\neloquently that a day ‘might come when India shall have one language and
\none language only. Frankly speaking, I do not share that view and when
\nI say so, I am not ignoring the essential need for creating that national
\nunity of India which must be the foundation stone in our future reconstruction.
\nThat unity must be achieved by allowing those elements in the national
\nlife of our country, which are today vital, to function and function in
\ndignity, in harmony and in self-respect. Today it stands to the glory of
\nIndia that we have so many languages from the north to the south, from
\nthe west to the cast. each one of which in its own way, has made contributions
\nwhich have made what Indian life and civilisation are today.\n<\/p>\n
If it is claimed by anyone that by passing an article in the Constitution
\nof India, one language is going to be accepted by all, by a process of
\ncoercion, I say. Sir, that that will not be possible to achieve. (Hear,
\nhear) Unity in diversity is India’s key-note and must be achieved by a
\nprocess of understanding and consent, and for that a proper atmosphere
\nhas to be created. If I belonged to a province where Hindi is the spoken
\nlanguage, I would have felt proud today of the agreement to which practically
\nall the members of this House have voluntarily submitted themselves by
\naccepting Hindi in Devanagari script as the official language of free India.
\nThat is a solid achievement which, I hope, those friends of mine who come
\nfrom the Hindi-speaking provinces should appreciate.\n<\/p>\n
I am not talking about the relative claims of other languages. Left
\nto myself, I would certainly have preferred Sanskrit. People laugh at Sanskrit
\ntoday perhaps because they think it is not practicable to use it for so
\nmany purposes which a modem State has to fill. I do not want’ to take your
\ntime by dwelling on the claim of Sanskrit. I am not fully competent to
\ndo so. but most certainly that is a language which still is the storehouse.
\nshall I say the unlimited and illimitable storehouse, from which all knowledge
\nand wisdom are drawn, not so much perhaps by the present generation of
\nthe Indian people but by others who have preceded us ‘and by all true lovers
\nof learningand scholarship throughout the civilised world. That is Our
\nlanguage, the mother-language of India. We do wish, not for paying lip
\nsympathy or homage to its genius, but in our own national interests so
\nthat we may re-discover ourselves and know the wealth and treasure that
\nwe accumulated in the past and are capable of achieving in future,–we
\ndo wish that Sanskrit will<\/p>\n
reoccupy an honoured place in the national educationl system of India.\n<\/p>\n
I am not-similarly advocating the claims of other languages. You will
\nnot call it provincial if I say that I am proud of my own language. It
\nis a language which has not remained as a mere language of the people of
\nBengal alone. It was the language enriched by many noble writers for centuries
\npast-the language of Vande Mataram. It was our national poet Rabindra Nath
\nTagore who raised the status and dignity of India when he had his great
\nthoughts and contributions in Bengali recognised it the bar of world opinion.
\n(Hear, hear). That is your language. It is the language of India, (Hear,
\nhear). I am sure that the languages of my friends from the South and the
\nWest. of which they are so proud, have also great records and must be protected
\nand safeguarded in ample measure. All must feel that nothing has been done
\nin the Constitution which may result in the destruction or liquidation
\nor weakening of any one of these languages.\n<\/p>\n
Why do we accept Hindi ? Not that it is necessarily the best of Indian
\nlanguages. It is for the main reason that that is the one language which
\nis understood by the largest single majority in this country today. If
\n14 crores of people out of 32 today understand a particular language, and
\nit is also capable of progressive development, we say, let us accept that
\nlanguage for the purposes of the whole of India, but do it in such a way
\nthat in the interim period it may not result in the deterioration of our
\nofficial conduct of business or administration and at no time retard true
\nadvancement of India and her other great languages. We accept that proposition,
\nand the scheme which Mr. Gopalaswami Ayyangar has placed before you includes
\ncertain principles which we consider, taken as a whole, meet this view-point
\nand will be not in the interests of the people coming from the south of
\nIndia, but in the interests of the people of India as a whole. (Hear, hear).\n<\/p>\n
You Have got sonic time, fifteen years, within which English will have
\nto be replaced. How is it to be replaced? It will have to be replaced progressively.
\nWe will have to decide realistically whether for certain special purposes
\nEnglish should still be continued to be used in India. As sonic of my friend,,
\nhave already stated. we might have rid India of British rule-we had reasons
\nfor doing so-but that is no reason why you should get rid of the English
\nlanguage. We know fully well the good and the evil that English education
\nhas done to us. But let us judge the future use of English dispassionately
\nand from the point of view of our country’s needs. After all, it is on
\naccount of that language that the have been able to achieve many things;
\napart from the role that English has played in unifying India politically.
\nand thus in our attaining political freedom, it opened to us the civilisation
\nof large parts of the world. It opened to us knowledge, specially in the
\nrealm of science ant] technology which it would have been difficult to
\nachieve otherwise. Today we are proud of what our scientists and our technical
\nexperts have done.\n<\/p>\n
I say. Sir, we would be suffering from a sense of inferiority complex
\nif we examine the role that the English language should play in this country
\nfrom any narrow standpoint. There is no question of the English language
\nbeing used today for political purposes or for dominating any system of
\nnational education. It will be for us, the representatives of the people
\nof free India, to decide as to how progressively we will use Hindi and
\nother Indian languages. how progressively we will get rid of the English
\nlanguages if we feel that forall time to come for certain purposes, we
\nwill allow English language to be used or taught we need not be ashamed
\nof ourselves. There are certain matters which we have the courage to speak
\nout, not in individual or sectional interest but where we feel that such
\na step is to be taken in the interests of the country as a whole.\n<\/p>\n
Sir, with regard to regional languages, I am now happy that the amendment
\nproposes to include in the<\/p>\n
body of the Constitution itself a list of the principal regional languages
\nof India. I hope we will include Sanskrit also. I shall speak here with
\nfrankness. Why is it that many people belonging to non-Hindi speaking provinces
\nhave become a bit nervous about Hindi ? If the protagonists of Hindi will
\npardon me for saying so, had they not been perhaps so aggressive in their
\ndemands and enforcement of Hindi, they would have got whatever they wanted,
\nperhaps more than ‘what they expected, by spontaneous and willing co-operation
\nof the entire population of India. But, unfortunately, a fear has been
\nexpressed, and in some areas that fear has been translated into action,
\nwhere people speaking other languages, not inferior to Hindi by any means,
\nhave not been allowed the same facilities which even the much-detested
\nforeign regime did not dare to deprive them of.\n<\/p>\n
I would beg of those who represent the Hindi speaking provinces in this
\nConstituent Assembly to remember that while we accept Hindi, they in their
\nturn, take upon themselves a tremendous responsibility. I was glad to find
\nthat some weeks ago at a meeting of the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, a resolution
\nwas passed that in these Hindi speaking provinces, there will be compulsory
\narrangements for the study of one or more of the other Indian languages.
\n(An honourable Member : A pious resolution ). Let that not remain a pious
\nresolution. It will depend upon leaders like Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant,
\nBabu Purshottam Das Tandon, Babu Shri Krishna Sinha, and Pandit Ravi Shankar
\nShukla to see to it that within the next few months, arrangements are made,
\nif necessary by statute, for the due recognition in their areas of other
\nimportant regional languages, specially if there are people speaking those
\nlanguages residing in those areas. I shall watch with interest and see
\nhow these facilities are given and the resolution unanimously passed under
\nthe leadership_ of Babu Purushottam Das Tandon is carried into effect in
\nprovinces like Bihar and the U.P.\n<\/p>\n
Sir, a lot of talk is going on about what is meant by Hindi. There cannot
\nbe any artificial political forces or forces created by statutory provisions
\ndictating as to how a language is to be shaped. A language will be shaped
\nin natural course of events, in spite of current controversies, in spite
\nof individuals, however big or however eminent for the time being they
\nmay be. It is the people’s will that creates changes; they come naturally
\nand often imperceptibly. It is not a resolution of the Constituent Assembly
\nwhich will decide the supremacy of a language. If you want that Hindi is
\nto really occupy an All-India position and not merely replace English for
\ncertain official purposes, you make Hindi worthy of that position and allow
\nit to Absorb by natural process words and idioms not only from Sanskrit
\nbut also from other sister languages of India. Do not obstruct the growth
\nof Hindi. I can speak Hindi in my own Bengali way. Mahatma Gandhi spoke
\nHindi in his own way. Sardar Patel speakes Hindi in his own Gujarati way.
\nIf my friends from the U.P. or Bihar come and say’ that theirs is the standard
\nHindi which ‘they have laid down and any one who cannot speak this language
\nwill be tabooed, it will be a bad thing not only for Hindi, but it will
\nbe a bad thing for the country. I am glad, therefore, that provision has
\nbeen incorporated in the draft article suggesting as to how this language
\nshould develop in this country.\n<\/p>\n
I do hope an Academy of Languages will be established by the Government
\nof India and perhaps similar academies will be established in other regional
\nareasin India where a systematic study of Hindi ‘and other Indian languages
\nwill take Place, where comparative literatures will be studied and publications
\nin Devanagari script of selected books in all Indian languages will be
\norganised; where the more important task of finding out terms and terminology
\nspecially for commercial, industrial, scientific and technical purposes
\nwill be dispassionately undertaken. Let us not be narrow-minded in this
\nrespect. I played my humble part<\/p>\n
in giving to my mother-tongue its due place in my University, a work
\nwhich was started by my revered father nearly sixty years ago and it was
\nleft to me to bring that work into fruition fifteen years ago. Calcutta
\ngave ungrudging recognition to all languages in India. We selected our
\nterms and terminology from the point of view of our future advance and
\nnot narrow sentiments. If: today it is said that all technical terms and
\nterminology are to be used in Hindi, you may do so in the provinces where
\nHindi is being spoken. What will happen to Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra
\nand Madras ? Will they also use their own technical terms in their State
\nlanguages ? If that is so, what will become about the inter-change of opinion
\nand inter-change of educational facilities between one State and another?
\nWhat will happen to those who go to foreign countries for their future
\neducation ? These are questions I would ask you to ponder over. Let us
\nnot be carried away by mere sentiment. I am certainly proud of certain
\nsentiments. I am anxious that there should be a language which gradually
\nwill become not only the spoken language of the entire population of India,
\nbut a language in which the official business of the Government of India
\nwill be carried, and will be capable of being used by all. We have agreed
\nit will be Hindi. At the same time, it has to be adjusted and re-adjusted
\nat every step in such a way that our national interests may not suffer
\nand not injure the interests of the State languages also. If you proceed
\nin that fashion I have not the slightest doubt that we will not have to
\nwait for fifteen years ; more readily, it will be possible for people of
\nall the provinces to agree to and implement our decision.\n<\/p>\n
Lastly, I shall say a few words about the numerals. Much has been made
\nabout the numerals. We are having a minor war on numerals. But, this suggestion
\nwhich has been made is not in the parochial interest of the people who
\ncome from South India. That is a point which must be understood by every
\nsection of this House. The continuance, until otherwise decided, of the
\ninternational numerals, which really have come back to the land of their
\nbirth in a somewhat modified form, is vitally necessary in our own interests,
\nat least for many years to come. Later on, if, on the recommendation of
\nthe Commission, the President feels that a change is to be made, that change
\nmay be made. You have got your statistics; you have got your scientific
\nwork to be done You have your commercial undertakings, banks, accounts,
\naudit. You have so many other things in respect of which the use of international
\nnumerals is necessary.\n<\/p>\n
,Some of my friends ask me, if you are taking the entire Hindi language,
\nand when some of the numerals more or less similar, why not accept a few
\nmore? It is not a question of learning three or four numerals. I believe
\nevery one will know the Hindi numerals, which may be also used right from
\nthe beginning. Hindi numerals will also be learnt by all. But the question
\nis regarding their use for purposes for which you consider they cannot
\nbe properly used.\n<\/p>\n
Some of my Hindi-speaking friends have asked, why compel us to use the
\ninternational numerals? We are not banning the use of Hindi numerals in
\nBihar, Central Provinces or the U.P. where Hindi will be the State language.
\nObviously Hindi numerals will have a large part to play. Where is the harm<\/p>\n
if you learn the international numerals also and use them for all-India
\nofficial purposes ? Rather, it will be to your benefit, specially for your
\nhigher educational curriculum. I would ask Babu Purshottam Das Tandon,
\nand appeal to him that in this matter he must rise, equal to the occasion.
\nIt is not a matter which need be carried by a majority of votes. Even if
\nsome of there. feel against the all-India use and recognition of the international
\nnumerals in addition to Hindi numerals, even if he feels that this is not
\nfair and just, or is not to his liking, for the very fact that Hindi which
\nis the language of his own province is being accepted by the entire people
\nof India,<\/p>\n
tie should have the statesmanship to get up and say that in spite of
\nhis personal feelings, he accepts the compromise and approves the resolution.\n<\/p>\n
We have passed many important resolutions in this House during the past
\nyears. We have faced many crises together. It will be making a childish
\naffair if on a matter connected with numerals, the Constituent Assembly
\nof free India commanded by one political party divides. We shall be making
\na laughing stock of ourselves and the whole of India and we would be strengthening
\nthe hands of our enemies. Let us emphasise not on the differences but on
\nthe substantial achievement of our common aim. Let us tell the whole world
\nthat we have done so without rancour and with unanimity. Let us not look
\nat the matter from a political angle.\n<\/p>\n
It pains to find that in some areas, acceptance of international numerals
\nmay become a first class political issue. It depends on the leaders of
\nthose provinces to take courage in both hands, get up here and say that
\nthey have accepted this compromise for the good of India and that they
\nare going to stand together. If the leaders say so, I have not the slightest
\ndoubt that the people also will accept it. We have not banned the circulation
\nof Hindi or Devanagari numerals in any province where the State legislature
\nso decides or even for allIndia purposes. All that we have recommended
\nis the acceptance of a formula which we feel will be fair and just to all.
\nI hope that before the debate concludes it will be possible for the representatives
\nof the different view-points to meet together and come forward before the
\nHouse with the declaration that the proposition of Mr. N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
\nis going to be unanimously accepted.\n<\/p>\n
Mr. President: The House stands adjourned till 4 O’clock.\n<\/p>\n
The Assembly then adjourned for Lunch till Four of the Clock in the
\nafternoon. The Assembly re-assembled after Lunch at Four P.m., Mr. President
\n(the Honourable Dr. Rajendra Prasad), in the Chair.\n<\/p>\n
Mr. President: We shall now continue the discussion. Mr. Chacko.\n<\/p>\n
Shri P. T. Chacko (United State of Travancore & Cochin) : Sir, my
\nposition is that English should continue to be used for a period to be
\nfixed and the question of a national language should be left to the future
\nParliament. A national language has to evolve itself and is not to be created
\nartificially. The national language for a great country like India should
\nhave certain minimum requirements. It should be capable of expressing all
\nthe needs of modern civilisation. To be capable of meetings all modern
\ndemands, it should have a lore of scientific literature. Language as the
\nvehicle of thought determines to a large extent our mental makeup. The
\ncapacity for thought, and for thought development, to a great degree is
\nlimited by the thinker’s language of expression. Each language has a vocabulary,
\na method of construction and a scheme of thought process distinctly all
\nits own.\n<\/p>\n
A person who knows only a primitive language cannot, of course, think
\nin the same lines as one who speaks a well-developed language. The national
\nlanguage of a great country like India should also be great. Some of our
\nlanguages in India am really rich in literature. But, Sir, I do not think
\nthat any of our languages contain a good scientific literature. It would
\nbe almost impossible to teach Chemistry, Physics and such other sciences
\nin any of our languages in India. A language cannot be artificially moulded
\nfor ready use. It has to develop itself and that takes time. The adoption
\nof a language from the languages which we are having in India will most
\nprobably,, retard our national progress. It may prevent our higher studies.
\nIt may prevent scientific researches which we need. Therefore, I believe
\nwe will have to wait till the time when a language in India develops itself
\nand matures to that stage when we can make it our official language and
\nour national language.\n<\/p>\n
To replace an international language like English, very expressive,
\nrich ill vocabulary, easy and simple in construction, and one which is
\nrecommended to be the<\/p>\n
international auxiliary language, is almost impossible. Probably Shakespeare
\ndecided the national language of England once for all, and for Italy probably
\nDante decided it. Like that, some literary genius will in future, according
\nto me, decide the national language for India.\n<\/p>\n
A national language can be, decided upon only by mutual agreement. It
\ncannot be done by taking votes; that is what I believe. No language can
\nbe imposed upon an unwilling people. No nation has ever succeeded in imposing
\nthe language of the majority upon the minority. In the day of Czarist Russia,
\nspeaking Lithuanian language was absolutely forbidden and the penalty for
\nbreaking this law’ was very severe, sometimes amounting to death. Nevertheless,
\nwhen after two centuries, Lithuania declared itself independent, it was
\nfound that about 93 per cent. of the people still spoke the Lithuanian
\nlanguage Likewise, in Spain, the Catalan language was prohibited in 1923,
\nbut after a strenuous struggle which ensued in 1932, the State had to recognise
\nthat language.\n<\/p>\n
On the other hand, we know what happened in Britain. Even now there
\nare about six spoken languages in the British Isles. English evolved itself
\nas a national language and the people willingly recognised it. The result
\nwas that Welsh in Wales and Gaelic in Scotland slowly were abandoned by
\nthe people. Likewise we will also have, to wait for some time till a language
\nemerges from among the languages which exist in India. We will have to
\nwait till it matures and reaches that position when we can make it our
\nlingua franca.\n<\/p>\n
Before deciding upon the official language, to me it appears that we
\nhave to decide one or two very important questions. Firstly Sir, the question
\niswhether we should have one language or more languages as our official
\nlanguage. In Switzerland, for example, there are four languages spoken
\nby the people. In schools the medium of instruction is that language which
\nis spoken by the people in the locality where the school is located. In
\nhigher classes a second national language is compulsory and later on a
\nthird language. All the four languages are recognised as official languages.\n<\/p>\n
In pre-war Czechoslovakia, though there were about twelve languages,
\nbesides some dialects spoken by the people, two languages were recognised
\nas official. In public offices the language of the region in which the
\noffice was situated was used. In many other countries ‘also more than.
\none language is recognised as official language.\n<\/p>\n
Therefore it is a question to be decided whether we should have one
\nsingle language as the official language of India or we should have more
\nthan one-for example Bengalee, Tamil, Hindi and even English. If we decide
\non one national language, we will again have to decide whether we should
\nallow the Union Government to use any other language than the official
\nlanguage. In the U.S.S.R., for example, in European Russia itself there
\nare about 76 languages spoken besides innumerable dialects and only one
\nlanguage is the official language of the U.S. S.R. But in offices the language
\nof the region is also officially used. Where many languages are spoken
\nand there are many other dialects also the question is to decide whether
\nwe should permit the Union to use only the official language or other languages
\nalso in public offices situated in particular regions.\n<\/p>\n
I wish to point out that in Eire even now the English language is used
\nfor all official purposes. During the days of the Irish struggle for independence
\nthey were almost resisting the use of English. In 1893 a Gailic League
\nwas formed which played a most predominant part in the Irish struggle for
\nfreedom. In their schools now Irish is taught as a compulsory language.
\nThough the Irish people want Irish to be their only official language yet
\nthey find it very difficult to replace English by Irish.\n<\/p>\n
We are all almost agreed that English should continue for a period of
\nfifteen years. So this is not an urgent question, though it is a very important
\nquestion. It is a sound principle in democracy to know the wishes of the
\npeople<\/p>\n
and to respect the wishes of the people when there is doubt among the
\nrepresentatives themselves as regards the decision which may be taken by
\nthem. Though it is an important question, since it is not an urgent question
\nI would request that we take time to go back to the people to get a mandate
\nfrom the people and for that we should leave the question to be decided
\nby the future Parliament.\n<\/p>\n
Why should we worry ourselves with the problem when we are faced with
\nseveral very urgent problems which affect the life of the millions of people
\nof the country ? When people who valiantly fought for the freedom of the
\ncountry are dying for want of food and shelter, when trade and commerce
\nis becoming duller day by day, when unemployment is rampant, especially
\nin the South, when in the North we are having the Kashmir problem and in
\nthe South the menace of the Communist hooliganism–even today I got a telegram
\nfrom my country that the son of a Congress worker who devoted twenty years
\nin the service of the country was stabbed by a communist on Sunday last-and
\nwhen the future of the very nation itself is hanging on the solution we
\nmight find for the food problem I ask why should this august Body waste
\nits time over this question, the solution of which we intend to implement
\nonly after fifteen years, according to the agreement almost reached by
\nevery one in the House.\n<\/p>\n
After having seen a sort of fanaticism in action in the matter of a
\ncomparatively smaller question of the numerals and after having heard a
\nsection of the people of this House speak as if all that mattered in life
\nwas the Devanagari system of numerals, I feel that it would be better for
\nus to leave the decision onthis question to soberer men. We can hope that
\nour posterity will be more tolerant and wiser and hence they may be able
\nto find an agreed solution for this problem. Our intolerance has already
\ndivided India. Let it not divide it again. Instead of imposing a language
\non posterity I believe it will be better for us if we leave this problem
\nto be decided by posterity themselves.\n<\/p>\n
Shri B. Das (Orissa: General) : Sir, this question of Hindi as the,
\nlingua franca has caused us a lot of misgivings. I will ‘not be true to
\nmyself , my conscience and my God if I do not express my feelings. I will
\nnot be true to my great leader, Mahatma Gandhi, who is in Heaven, if I
\ndo not express truly and correctly the apprehensions that I have come to
\nentertain during the last three weeks, and which have been aggravated more
\nand more by the dominating attitude of my friends from U.P. and C.P.\n<\/p>\n
As we want a lingua franca I do accept Hindi as the official language,
\nbut that does not mean that we have no apprehensions, we have no suspicions
\nor that we have no fears. My Friend Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerji this morning
\nindicated some of the fears and suspicions that non-Hindi speaking provinces
\nincluding those in the South do harbour. This morning when Pandit Lakshmi
\nKanta Maitra was speaking I was almost persuaded to accept Sanskrit as
\nthe official language of the State, so that everybody will start with an
\neven keel in that mother of all languages. There will then be no rivalry
\nbetween the sons and daughters of the leaders of U.P. and C.P. that are
\npresent here and them sons and daughters of leaders of Orissa or Madras.
\nThey will all learn Sanskrit.\n<\/p>\n
The fears and suspicions that we harbour today were harboured by us
\ntill a couple of years ago, when the officialdom was manned by the Britishers
\nand the civil service examinations were conducted in London. Naturally,
\nthe Englishmen preponderated in service. Now that the civil services and
\nother examinations are being held in Delhi, naturally hereafter the Hindi-speaking
\nprovinces (I am not talking of the immediate future but of fifteen years
\nhence) the people of the Hindi-speaking provinces such as U.P. and C.P.
\nwill preponderate in the civil and other services of our country.\n<\/p>\n
What shall be the standard or ideal of education and examination in
\nHindi language ? I do not know much of Hindi. I know a little of what is
\ncalled Hindustani<\/p>\n
which the ordinary people use, that inferior Hindustani in which official
\nfolks talk to the servants and ordinary workmen. That much Hindustani I.
\nknow. According to my investigation Hindi is the only language in the world
\nwhich requires its verbs to have different inflections according to the
\ngender.\n<\/p>\n
An honourable Member: What about German?\n<\/p>\n
Shri B. Das : I am sorry I tried to learn German but with the advent
\nof first war I gave it up. However, in my old age, I am not prepared to
\nstart speaking Hindi-all the time labouring under the dread that I might
\nmake a mistake, in the proper gender of the verbs I used and the nervousness
\nthat I may not be laughed at by Hindi-speaking ladies and gentlemen over
\nmistakes, I have made.\n<\/p>\n
But that is not the problem. Our children will have to learn a language
\nso like the German where they will have to see that they do not make mistakes
\nin their sentences by using wrong verbs. That is a misgiving, yet I am
\nwilling to overlook it. But I am not willing to reconcile myself to the
\nposition that for the next fifteen, twenty or thirty years the sons of
\nthe Hindi-speaking people, whether they belong to U.P. or to the C.P.,
\nwill preponderate in the all-India services.\n<\/p>\n
I have watched during the last twenty-One years the spread of Rashtrabhasha
\nHindi throughout the country. I do say, that very little has been done
\ntotrain up Hindi speakers : excepting for the efforts of my Friends Mr.
\nSatyanarayana and Shrimati Durgabai there, very little has been done, so
\nthat those who are today capable of a smattering of Hindi reading in Orissa
\nor Madras, can they hope to compete with the Hindi-speaking people or can
\nthey compose music or songs like my Friend Pandit Balkrishna Sharma or
\nwrite beautiful stories like my Friend Shrimati Kamala Chaudhri ? That
\nmay not count for my generation but it will count in later generations
\nand affect them.\n<\/p>\n
We know we must have a lingua franca. We accept Hindi. Why is it that
\nthe leaders of U.P. and C.P. are so intolerant ? I found leader after leader
\ncoming from those benches and talking in Hindi knowing that they are not
\nappealing to the Members of U.P. or C.P. or even in Bihar. They are raising
\ntheir voices to speak to the people of South India and even to the people
\nof Orissa like me or to the Members from Bengal who talk just a smattering
\nof Hindi. Everybody knows that the Bengali is a little bit conservative
\n: he seldom learns an Indian language gracefully although he masters the
\nEnglish language. Sir, I do hope that when the next speakers rise from
\nthe benches of U.P., C.P. or Bihar let them address in English those Members
\nof South India and those like me who cannot understand Hindi so very well.
\nIf they are so fond of their mother tongue, let them reserve it for other
\noccasions. Let their arguments show that they have spirit of tolerance,
\nthat they want to concede and that they are not in that aggressive mood
\nof, “You must have Hindi as lingua ,franca, we care a rap what happens
\nto you, your sons or grandsons”.\n<\/p>\n
We are not going to allow that sort of attitude in speakers from U.P.
\nor C.P. That way you will not make us co-operate in future or even now.
\nSir, that is what is agitating me and if I speak out my mind I do so in
\nobedience to the dictates of my conscience.\n<\/p>\n
Shri H.J. Khandekar (C.P. & Berar : General) : I would like to tell
\nthe honourable Member that C.P. is not a purely Hindi-speaking Province;
\nit speaks Marathi as well as Hindi.\n<\/p>\n
Shri B.Das: All right, Sir. I accept my Friend’s correction. It is the
\nJubbulpore district which I have in mind which gave birth to the, President
\nof the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, my Friend Seth Govind Das.\n<\/p>\n
Sir, I have said already that we are human beings and the problems of
\nloaves and fishes affect us as much as the problems of higher national
\nideology. Let the leaders of U.P. that will speak hereafter tell us how
\nthey are solving that problem so that they do not get an overriding weightage
\non the other Provinces like Orissa, Assam, Bengal, or the Southern Provinces
\nand States like Madras, part of Bombay,<\/p>\n
Mysore and Travancore. That is a problem they will have to solve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Constituent Assembly Debates Constituent Assembly Debates On 13 September, 1949 Part Ii \u00a0 CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY OF INDIA – VOLUME IX Tuesday, the 13th September 1949 Then there is the question of accepting Sanskrit as the national language. If all the South Indian friends and others accept Sanskrit, I would have no objection and would accept […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-271287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-judgements"],"yoast_head":"\nConstituent Assembly Debates On 13 September, 1949 Part Ii - Free Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/constituent-assembly-debates-on-13-september-1949-part-ii\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Constituent Assembly Debates On 13 September, 1949 Part Ii - 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