Why India can’t have a National language
To understand the idea of a national language, we must understand the different types of nations.
Some nations entirely speak the same language. Making that language their national language is completely logical. Examples of such nations are Japan, Bangladesh and Austria. Remember, here I am not considering dialects, tribal cultures or immigrant languages.
But some nations have one, two or three minority languages. Still, in such cases the majority languages can be made a national language. Examples of such nations are France, Spain, and Iran.
Some nations have multiple languages, but a dominant language spoken by a dominant ethnicity can make their language as national language and impose it on others. Examples of such nations are China, Russia and the UK. Usually they avoid making a national language and call it official language just for the purpose of official communication.
Some countries have more than one dominant language, usually they are two or three. In such cases all the dominant languages are made official or national.
But there are some nations which have diverse regional languages and yet have a national language. This national language is generally a language which is equidistant from all native speakers. Examples of such countries are difficult to find, but they are Pakistan and Indonesia. Urdu is a Hindustani variant not native to Pakistan, and Indonesian is a Malay dialect not a native language of Indonesia.
Mostly multilinguistic nations make all their major languages official and have no national language. But they keep lingua franca for official communication. Examples of these countries are India, Sri Lanka, and South Africa.
Hindi being the native language of Hindi belt makes it a dominant language and goes against the Indian concept of celebrating the diversity.
Multicultural nations are either a result of an empire or a union. An empire is unified by a dominant linguistic community that imposes its language on other cultures within its empire. Thus, their language emerges as a lingua franca and becomes the ‘national language’ of that nation. When a union is formed among multilingual states, every language is an equal contender for the status of ‘national language’. In such cases, a common equidistant language is made the national language like in the case of Indonesian and Urdu in Indonesia and Pakistan respectively. This equidistant language is not spread by invading empires, but through merchants and traders who roam around the nation. But in India, only English could fit that bill.
India always had a history of separate languages for the elites and the commoners. In ancient India, Sanskrit was the language of the elites, while the lower social class spoke only in dialects of Prakrit. In medieval times, Persian became the language of the educated elites, while local people spoke their regional languages. Slowly, Urdu or Hindustani was being replaced as the official language of the Mughal court, but then Marathas briefly took over as hegemon, followed by British rule. English then became the language of the educated elites.
Languages of the elites were used for administration and trade, and thus could be considered as ‘official languages’ of those periods. Commoners usually stayed in their locality and hence had no need to learn a different language. The British made English the official language of their Indian empire, while at the provincial level they continued to supplement it with local languages. The British made Hindustani (Hindi/Urdu) official only in northern provinces, thus making English the sole lingua franca.
When India attained her independence, English was considered to be the language of their colonial masters and thus Hindi was suggested to replace it for official purposes. Hindi being ‘foreign’ to the southern and north-eastern states, it faced a major backlash. Thus, Hindi and English became co-official languages for administrative purposes of the Union, while the constitution addressed 22 other languages as official languages of India.
The main difference between ‘official language’ and ‘national language’ is that the former is for the sake of administration and communication, while the latter is an identity of the nation. As a multilinguistic country, one language can never define the whole of India.
Some nations entirely speak the same language. Making that language their national language is completely logical. Examples of such nations are Japan, Bangladesh and Austria. Remember, here I am not considering dialects, tribal cultures or immigrant languages.
But some nations have one, two or three minority languages. Still, in such cases the majority languages can be made a national language. Examples of such nations are France, Spain, and Iran.
Some nations have multiple languages, but a dominant language spoken by a dominant ethnicity can make their language as national language and impose it on others. Examples of such nations are China, Russia and the UK. Usually they avoid making a national language and call it official language just for the purpose of official communication.
Some countries have more than one dominant language, usually they are two or three. In such cases all the dominant languages are made official or national.
But there are some nations which have diverse regional languages and yet have a national language. This national language is generally a language which is equidistant from all native speakers. Examples of such countries are difficult to find, but they are Pakistan and Indonesia. Urdu is a Hindustani variant not native to Pakistan, and Indonesian is a Malay dialect not a native language of Indonesia.
Mostly multilinguistic nations make all their major languages official and have no national language. But they keep lingua franca for official communication. Examples of these countries are India, Sri Lanka, and South Africa.
Hindi being the native language of Hindi belt makes it a dominant language and goes against the Indian concept of celebrating the diversity.
Multicultural nations are either a result of an empire or a union. An empire is unified by a dominant linguistic community that imposes its language on other cultures within its empire. Thus, their language emerges as a lingua franca and becomes the ‘national language’ of that nation. When a union is formed among multilingual states, every language is an equal contender for the status of ‘national language’. In such cases, a common equidistant language is made the national language like in the case of Indonesian and Urdu in Indonesia and Pakistan respectively. This equidistant language is not spread by invading empires, but through merchants and traders who roam around the nation. But in India, only English could fit that bill.
India always had a history of separate languages for the elites and the commoners. In ancient India, Sanskrit was the language of the elites, while the lower social class spoke only in dialects of Prakrit. In medieval times, Persian became the language of the educated elites, while local people spoke their regional languages. Slowly, Urdu or Hindustani was being replaced as the official language of the Mughal court, but then Marathas briefly took over as hegemon, followed by British rule. English then became the language of the educated elites.
Languages of the elites were used for administration and trade, and thus could be considered as ‘official languages’ of those periods. Commoners usually stayed in their locality and hence had no need to learn a different language. The British made English the official language of their Indian empire, while at the provincial level they continued to supplement it with local languages. The British made Hindustani (Hindi/Urdu) official only in northern provinces, thus making English the sole lingua franca.
When India attained her independence, English was considered to be the language of their colonial masters and thus Hindi was suggested to replace it for official purposes. Hindi being ‘foreign’ to the southern and north-eastern states, it faced a major backlash. Thus, Hindi and English became co-official languages for administrative purposes of the Union, while the constitution addressed 22 other languages as official languages of India.
The main difference between ‘official language’ and ‘national language’ is that the former is for the sake of administration and communication, while the latter is an identity of the nation. As a multilinguistic country, one language can never define the whole of India.
Well researched and written!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Stay tuned for more! Check out other posts as well.
Delete