Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit has said she doesn’t agree with calls for pushing Hindi ahead of other languages as a means to unite India’s diverse linguistic and cultural landscape.
In an interview to PTI, Pandit said such an idea won’t find acceptance in many parts, particularly in the south and east regions, and “even Maharashtra”.
India’s linguistic diversity and people’s personal language preferences should be respected, she said. “India’s linguistic diversity is a blessing,” she added.
“I believe that everybody should be multilingual because, in India, we have to celebrate cultural diversity,” said Pandit, who is fluent in English, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Hindi.
The Modi government has been accused by opponents of trying to impose Hindi on non-Hindi-speaking states on account of its suggestion that Hindi become the common currency for speech in India instead of English.
Asked about calls to make Hindi the “main connecting language for teaching work etc”, Pandit said, “I would say that Hindi can be there but only one language should not be imposed… Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi were not fools when they talked about the three-language formula, because in India, uniformity in any form does not work.”
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Misunderstood
Talking about the diversity of India’s languages, she shared an incident where a speech made by former Union home minister Shivraj Patil was misunderstood because of one word’s different meanings in two languages.
Patil, Pandit said, made a statement after 26/11 saying “aatankwadiyon ko shiksha dena chahiye”.
The word ‘shiksha’ means ‘education’ in Hindi and ‘punishment’ in Marathi.
Patil, Pandit added, was “heckled for three days” as the exact connotations of his speech remained lost on those not aware of the word’s Marathi meaning.
Pandit narrated this incident as she explained how Hindi is not an acceptable language in many states where the local language is a matter of pride, and an issue people are sensitive about.
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