- About this Document
Last month, the Government of India issued a notification which included retrograde provisions for Indian languages for central civil services examinations. The notification also added further weightage to English by proposing to include marks scored in the English compulsory paper to calculate merit. This has stirred up the linguistic debate once again. This document was written in response to the situation arising out of the Indian government’s issuing of the notification, a la ignorance par excellence.
The government withdrew the notification on the 15th of March due to a very stiff indictment by language experts and a strong opposition from various political circles. The discriminatory attitude of Indian elite towards Indian languages in India, however, is still worse even than their colonial siblings. The language question is inseparably tied with education, scientific development, knowledge in general, culture, heritage, and, very importantly, with the issue of the proper method of learning a foreign language. This document is an effort to provide a synopsis of professional international opinion on these matters.
Though the Indian languages have never been granted their rightful and essentially required status even after the British left, their plight has been further worsening at a faster pace for the past 30 years or so. The English language is pushing Indian languages out even as medium of education in schools. Though the real reason for this are the Indian elite’s misconceived vested interests, the following kind of false arguments are concoted in support of this irrationality:
- That English is the language of science and knowledge and the mastery of English, therefore, is essential to make progress in these fields;
- English is the language of international communication and business and no international exchange is possible without it.
The above kinds of arguments are a result of total ignorance about the relationship between language and science, education, knowledge in general, and about the international linguistic scene. The aim of this document is to pull the mask off this ignorance.
Joga Singh, Ph.D. (York, U.K.), Mobile: +91-9915709582; E-mail: jogasinghvirk@yahoo.co