Representatives of different Indian languages recently came together in national capital to form an organization – Bhartiya Bhasha Samooh ( BBS)- to raise a collective voice for indigenous languages. The Samooh has demanded the government to constitute a commission for Indian languages with constitutional status.
Presenting an analysis in its inaugural meeting, the Samooh underlined that at the seat of power in Delhi Indian languages have been deprived of its due share since independence in 1947. Indian languages have been displaced from various institutions of power including Indian parliament and Akashvani. Permanent appointment of translators has either been postponed or stopped in various organizations and Indian parliament and Akashvani are no exceptions. Visibility of books in Indian languages too has been gradually decreased in Delhi Public Library. Even in World Book Fair, the stalls of books in Indian languages have declined or gone missing.
The decision of teaching Urdu, Punjabi and Sanskrit as an optional seventh paper instead of sixth paper has posed a danger for these languages in the institutions of Delhi government. The Samooh has demanded that entrance examinations for medical courses should be conducted in all 22 languages, not in just six of them.
According to BB Samooh, dominance of English language has immensely increased making Indian languages miserable in Indian judiciary. In institutions like Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), presence of translators is mandatory during the interview of candidates opting Indian languages. But such candidates are never informed about this facility. The three languages formula is not being implemented at all.
Supremacy of English is expanding in government organizations at the expense of Indian languages. Big corporate houses, active in the country of late, are openly violating the language policy. In an e –mail sent to HDFC Bank, a member of the Samooh accused that the bank is pressurizing its customers to use English. Though bank’s cheque – book itself clearly confirms this accusation, the bank hasn’t replied yet to this complaint. Another member of the Samooh informed that ICICI Bank recently returned a cheque to him just because it was issued in Punjabi by the Punjabi University at Patiala. Later, he was forced to deposit this cheque in his account in Punjab & Sind Bank, a public sector bank.
In the interest of indigenous languages, Bhartiya Bhasha Samooh ( BBS) has decided to present a social audit of languages from time to time. The Samooh demanded the government to constitute a commission on Indian languages with constitutional status immediately so that Indian languages can be protected from unjustified onslaughts of foreign languages. The Samooh genuinely believes that interests of Indian languages can be safeguarded only through a common struggle. Conveners: Deepak Dholakiya -9818848753 & Anil Chamadia :-9868456745