I didn't even think in the wildest of my dreams that I would be writing an article on this topic. But of late I have been observing a lot of hatred towards each other in India based on languages. Before starting I would first like to clarify that all these are my own thoughts and conclusions and have not been influenced by anyone or anything!
Be it the laughter that angered me when a politician from Tamil Nadu spoke Tamil in Parliament or the agitation against Hindi for it being forced on South Indian states, I feel really angry and painful. The media particularly from Mumbai always seem to project South Indians as people who are against Hindi. This is so not true. I would like to speak on behalf of Tamil people as I belong to Tamil Nadu. Firstly, I am a proud Tamilan and I take pride in saying that! Then, we in Tamil Nadu are not at all opposed to any language or culture. To be frank, the one thing that unites people in Tamil Nadu together is the language. So how could we hate another language when we know that languages are the ones which makes us unique! We are not against Hindi but what we don't like is Hindi being forced upon us and our culture.
Hindi is not the national language of India. Hindi in Devanagiri script is the official language of India. So what do you been by official language? It means, Hindi is to be used for all official purposes of the Union. Thats it! It is almost on par with English for all the non Hindi speaking states. The Official Languages Act of 1967 has provided for the use of English indefinitely. So why is Hindi being forced upon us when we clearly don't like other languages being forced upon us? Why are signboards given in Hindi translation? The majority of the people living do not speak Hindi in South Indian states, then why do we need signs in Hindi? Are we having signboards in Tamil in North India? As a matter of fact we are not even been listened to if we speak in Tamil in Parliament. Is that the respect Indian democracy show to the most purest language and oldest language in India?
I have been learning Hindi from my childhood days partly due to my interest and partly due to my mother. But my love for Tamil didn't stop me from learning Hindi. If anyone is interested in Hindi they are more than welcome to study it, practice it. But asking students to study it compulsorily as a subject in Kendra Vidyalas by the Central Government is not fair. All I am asking is for equality for all languages. Be it Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannnada, Marathi, etc. there is more to a language than just letters and speech. A whole culture is hidden behind each language and it is the duty of the government to safeguard all languages.
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