A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya

students of Dacca University had taken
to the streets, during the period Jinnah
was on his tour of the country. In order
to stop their protests the police had to
open fire. Even today, there is a memorial
for those students who were killed in the
police firing, thus ridiculing the two-nation
theory.
What disastrous consequences would
have been, had the Indian nation- state
attempted to solve the language problem
in this manner? I am fully convinced that
if the advice of Seth Govind Das had been
adhered to and the army had been called
upon to implement Hindi, then the process
of disintegration of the nation would have
been initiated from that day itself.
Despite many deficiencies in
secularism and drawbacks in our less
than perfect democracy, it has given us
a great degree of tolerance which enables
us to have the patience to listen to the
voices of dissent. Similar to the issue of
language is the issue of cow slaughter.
Everyone is aware that in large parts of
the country cow slaughter is not prohibited
particularly in the North-East where beef
is a staple part of food. The Hindutva
people were at the helm of affairs for
six years and despite the fact that they
wanted to, they could not promulgate a
ban on cow slaughter. A large society
can exist only on the principles of
democracy and secularism.
Pakistan's very foundation rested
on religion. Like any other new nation
based on religion, its evolution has been
on the path of intolerance that prohibited
democracy. This state was not prepared
to face any dissent. It adopted the same
attitude with regard to language too. It
is a different story that this has led to
the disintegration of the nation, and with
an acute possibility of it being on the
precipice of further disintegration in future.
Modern Indian society and modern
Pakistan have a similar perspective when
it comes to the issue of language. Both
societies are on the defensive regarding
English. At the beginning of the 20th
century, English became the language of
the elite, and today it is the cherished
language of the middle class in both the
societies. English is not merely a window
to the international market. It is not only
a medium to get jobs in both the countries,
but the speakers of this language enjoy
a certain prestige. As liberalization and
open economy are being expanded, the
need for English is increasing.
As a student, I have been a part
of the 1967 language agitation. This
agitation had veritably brought an end
to the hegemonic supremacy of English
in all Hindi speaking regions. The study
of English as a compulsory subject was
over. Instead of English, higher education
was being imparted in Hindi, and Hindi
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