Being Pro-Hindi is being Pro-masses

Only 12-15% of Indians speak English. The remaining speak Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali and so on. Those who speak English also almost invariably speak one of the other native languages. Govt is of the people, by the people, for the people. Is the central Govt for 15% of English speaking or for the remaining 85% too? If yes then it must speak their language. Govt must communicate to citizen in their language, which will be Hindi in UP, Tamil and TN, Bengali in WB and so on. Some people are calling being pro-Hindi as being anti-masses. How strange can that be? Being pro-Hindi is certainly being pro-masses.

For years elitists have been taking undue advantage of their English proficiency. Modi wants to communicate to the citizen in Hindi. What’s wrong with that? When congress politician went to public to ask for votes a few months back – did they give their speeches in English in Amethi and Rai Bareli? There are people who fear that being pro-Hindi means being anti-Tamil. I am sure Modi understands that all Indian languages and their practitioners have equal rights and there can’t be a linguistic prejudice – neither pro-English nor pro-Hindi.

India is a large multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. We take pride in our diversity. Being a Hindi speaking Indian, I have equal right to Govt information and services, education and do business for gain as much as an English speaking person does. Why should then Govt information and services be available only in English. It must be available in Hindi, Tamil and Bengali too. In a democracy, I must be able to lead a life of pride, dignity and gain irrespective of my choice of language.

Internet is a great democratization force. It makes the same information and knowledge accessible to all. However, IT and Internet have left large percentage of Indian masses untouched. They call it the Digital Divide; it is in fact a “Linguistic Digital Divide” because you are disadvantaged primarily because information is available only in English. It’s Modi’s responsibility to make Internet democratic in this country by bringing in enabling measures to make all information and knowledge, specially in the Govt and education space, available in Indian languages. This will empower the citizen, they’ll be able to make informed decisions and lead a life of dignity and equality.