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  • Narendra Modi's push for Hindi struggles to translate in some states

    NEW DELHI: Since taking office as India's PM last month, Narendra Modi has taken a clear stand in support of Hindi, pushing for it to replace English as the preferred language of the capital's urbane and golf-playing bureaucrats.

    Hindi and English are India's two official languages for government business, although India's constitution recognizes a total of 22 languages.

    Modi's government has ordered its officials to use Hindi on social media accounts and in government letters. Modi spoke in Hindi and used interpreters in meetings with South Asian leaders last month, and addressed the Bhutanese parliament in Hindi during his first official overseas trip last week.

    But with more than half of India's 1.2 billion people using another language as their mother tongue, the push for Hindi risks widening communication divides in a highly diverse country, especially in the southern and eastern states, where local languages or English are preferred.

    The chief of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a regional party in Tamil Nadu, on Thursday slammed India's home ministry for its social media diktat.

    The party, born in 1949 of a southern secessionist movement, uses Tamil and English to communicate with voters.

    "No one can deny it's beginning to impose Hindi against one's wish. This would be seen as an attempt to treat non-Hindi speakers as second-class citizens," television channels quoted DMK chief M Karunanidhi as saying.

    In Odisha, a member of the state assembly was chastised this week for using Hindi during the question hour. The speaker of the house ordered Kengam Surya Rao to make statements only in English or the local language, Odia. Anti-Hindi protests in India date back to before the country gained independence in 1947 from former colonial ruler Britain.

    Hindi speakers are concentrated in India's northern and central regions, home to the country's two most populous states and where the BJP picked up most of its parliamentary seats in the election. It is the mother tongue of just over 40% of Indians, the latest government data show.
    In the 1960s the southern DMK party launched a campaign against the government's plan to make Hindi the sole official language, during which Hindi books and effigies of a "Hindi demoness" were burnt on village bonfires.

    "Hindi is our official language, we have to promote Hindi," junior home minister Kiren Rijiju said on Thursday, following Karunanidhi's criticism. "It doesn't mean that we undermine the importance of regional languages."

    A different India

    The push for greater use of Hindi by Modi, the son of a poor tea-seller who made a stunning political rise, has been read partly as a move to break from the anglophone elite of the dynastic Congress party, which he thrashed in parliamentary polls in April and May.

    "He is trying to represent a different India, which is rural and small-town oriented," said Ajay Gudavarthy, a politics professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. "That's the group he campaigned to, and that's the group he's from."

    Senior members of Modi's BJP cite some practical reasons too, saying Modi is more at ease in Hindi than English and does not wish to be misunderstood, particularly in interviews. The BJP has long championed Hindi as a uniting force for India.
    The home ministry last month ordered all bureaucrats to prioritize Hindi over English on official accounts on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

    Yet India's booming social media scene remains dominated by English, with even Modi still mostly using that language to communicate with the 4.9 million people who follow him there.

    TimesofIndia
    Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

  • #2
    So, Hindi down the throats of all? I can speak Hindi but what about the Tamils, the people from NE regions, the Muslims who prefer Urdu. Seems the anti-Hindi agitations of 1965 is all coming back to haunt the BJP. Goodluck with bad policies.
    Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

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    • #3
      I wanted to start this topic seems like you beat me to it :)

      This is NOT the right step that Modi wants to move on. What next ? announcing Hinduism as the national religion ?

      If they say 40% speak Hindi we say 60% don't speak Hindi. This is just not what I had expected from our PM. We Tamil's are already discriminated everywhere and I am so eager to know what's in line for us :pop:
      Last edited by commander; 19 Jun 14,, 18:47.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Oracle View Post
        So, Hindi down the throats of all? I can speak Hindi but what about the Tamils, the people from NE regions, the Muslims who prefer Urdu. Seems the anti-Hindi agitations of 1965 is all coming back to haunt the BJP. Goodluck with bad policies.
        Well we (Tamil's and NE) have been treated as second rate citizens (as rightly mentioned) everywhere except in their own state, not only for the language but since the NE people look different than these elite Hindi speaking,pan chewing populace and Tamilians are more 'dark' 'filthy' (actually we are more hygienic than those same a** h****) for the same elites. What a load of BS, these so called fair skinned elites cry foul when they are discriminated outside their country but they don't hesitate to do the same to someone from their own country , Hypocrite b******s . have always hated discriminating anyone based on anything. I have been a victim in many a such situations because I can't speak their language.

        This country will never grow, let alone be powerful unless the mentality of these people change. Good luck Mr. Modi :tankie:
        Last edited by commander; 19 Jun 14,, 20:04.

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        • #5
          Well so far so predictable.
          A big push by the BJP to get hindi imposed on the rest of us.
          I recall SB predicting that this would be done.

          Kerala is small enough that we get ignored pretty easily.
          Karnataka has only weak bullies like the KRV (Kannada Rakshana Vedike i.e Karnataka Protection Forum).
          They know how to throw slogans and deface shopfronts but will kneel to any tough bunch like the BJP.

          Just like last time we have to depend on the Tamilians to push back.
          For Gallifrey! For Victory! For the end of time itself!!

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          • #6
            I have no problems with him using Hindi in his speeches and even abroad. hearing some of these types speak English can be painful as they have no delivery. Oratory is important for a politician.

            Prioritising one language over the other ? does that mean the other one is not seen at all. Let's see how that goes. Modi won't be the first one to try that and not get very far.

            Bollywood did it by stealth and was much more successful.
            Last edited by Double Edge; 19 Jun 14,, 19:18.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Double Edge View Post
              I have no problems with him using Hindi in his speeches and even abroad. hearing some of these types speak English can be painful as they have no delivery. Oratory is important for a politician.

              Prioritising one language over the other ? does that mean the other one is not seen at all. Let's see how that goes. Modi won't be the first one to try that and not get very far.

              Bollywood did it by stealth and was much more successful.
              Exactly, let him speak any language he wants, just don't impose it by legal fiat on the rest of us.
              For Gallifrey! For Victory! For the end of time itself!!

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              • #8
                Good move.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by sated buddha View Post
                  Good move.
                  For you

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by bolo121 View Post
                    Just like last time we have to depend on the Tamilians to push back.
                    Nothing against you but don't you think you(your state ofc) should lend shoulders when it comes to these issues ? I have never heard even a peep from across the state as a matter of fact not even from Maharashtra who are known to be fond of their language.

                    Just because of that we are seen as the fighting bunch, anti-India , and are discriminated when it comes to do with anything to help with our State's issues. We are as patriotic as any other Indian and still when fishermen from TN are killed by SL navy there is not even a voice from other state heads but when a fisherman from KL was killed by the Italian marines they were immediately arrested by the local police and the rest is well known.

                    This is just an example of how Tamil's are treated as second rate citizen's in their own country and to a point I live in KA with a fear still in my mind considering how 1990's was. I guess this is our fate for being the minority linguistically.

                    Shame.

                    Attached Files
                    Last edited by commander; 19 Jun 14,, 20:05.

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                    • #11
                      for India.

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                      • #12
                        How widespread is English as a spoken language in India? Is it concentrated in certain geographical areas like Hindi?

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by sated buddha View Post
                          for India.
                          For 'Hindi'a not India

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                          • #14
                            hindi is understood and spoken across india. there is no concentration. english is spoken by around 100 million indians max. And is a foreign tongue.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by SteveDaPirate View Post
                              How widespread is English as a spoken language in India? Is it concentrated in certain geographical areas like Hindi?
                              English is certainly not widespread in all tiers of cities in the northern states , only in major cities and metro's and if you visit any southern part of India you will not have any issues with navigating even in Tier 2 or Tier 3 cities but that's not the case when the northern cities are compared.

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