BJP chief claims English bad for India, triggers outrage
Jul 20, 2013
NEW DELHI:
BJP chief Rajnath
Singh has stirred up a huge controversy with his comment
that English has caused a great loss to India by eroding its
cultural values and stymieing the growth of Sanskrit in the
country. The
comment was greeted with derision by intellectuals and political
leaders on Friday.
Speaking at a function here on Thursday, Singh had said, "The
English language has caused a great loss to the country. We are
losing our language, our culture as there are hardly any people who
speak Sanskrit now."
A television report showed Singh as saying: "We have started
forgetting our religion and culture these days. There are only
14,000 people left in this country speaking
in Sanskrit.
Knowledge acquired out of English is not harmful
but the Anglicization penetrated into the youth is
dangerous."
It took a while for the BJP chief's remarks to circulate but the
reaction would have left his party colleagues wincing as the
all-around criticism comes just as the main Opposition is looking
to project itself as committed to a modern social order and dynamic
growth.
Singh's views sounded like a throwback to when the BJP was often
labeled a "Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan" party and not one that claims
to have nurtured the IT revolution to its full potential
during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure as
the prime minister.
Singh's critics, ranging from I&B minister Manish Tewari, CPM
leader Sitaram Yechury and Dalit ideologue Chandrabhan Prasad, were
quick to point out that Singh had betrayed his medieval world-view
while insisting that English has not wiped out
"Indianness".
For most Indians English is
an additional skill apart from their mother tongues. Facility in
English is seen to have allowed India to connect with the world and
given it a critical share of the BPO and IT business which provides
employment to more than 20 lakh people, Singh's critics
said.
Tewari said, "I sometimes feel like laughing at our friends. On one
side their vision document is outsourced to people who don't speak
any language other than English. Is this medievalism or
hypocrisy?"
Tewari pointed out that "This attempt to create a dispute over
language or saying that one language is better or worse that
another, doesn't strengthen the country and is not expected from a
responsible political party."
CPM leader Sitaram Yechury criticized Singh saying the comments
reflect the BJP chief's preoccupation with Hindu revivalism. He
said that just by learning a language, people don't lose cultural
roots or foundations. "For most Indians, English is an additional
language, and it does not insulate or separate people from their
identities," he said. Knowing English will only help Indians to
advance and develop further.
Dalit ideologue Chandrabhan Prasad also criticized Rajnath Singh,
saying BJP was opposed to English language as it is at odds with
modernity itself. "All things Indian by tradition, be it caste, be
it social structure, political structure, have stopped India from
growing into a modern society. If English is eliminating tradition,
it is also eliminating a culture that is caste-driven," he
said.
"I am not surprised that BJP is upset. The party cannot succeed in
a caste-neutral India. It is opposing English because of its
opposition to modernity itself," he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/BJP-chief-claims-English-bad-for-India-triggers-outrage/articleshow/21178996.cms