Preface
India is a multinational, multi-lingual and multireligious country. This fact was partly realized by the founding fathers of the constitution when they were assigned the task of drafting it. But unfortunately full recognition to the fact that India before the partition was and continues to be after the partition a conglomeration of various nations and nationalities could not be accorded till this day. The problems that crop up time and again pertaining to the language issue have their root in the non-recognition of the above fact. The frequent demand for the recognition of certain languages and dialects as being raised at different points of time is just an indicator of the feelings of the people. As language happens to be the most important ingredient of the nationhood, the people want to live with their national identity and do not want to lose it at any cost.
Fortunately the authorities of the Institute of Objective Studies realized this truth and decided to clinch the issue, when they organized a three-day seminar on the Language Problem in India in 1994. The seminar was a success in the sense that many scholars and experts from different parts of the country participated in its deliberations and many distinguished personalities including Hon. Mr. Arjun Singh, the then Union Minister of Human Resource Development, New Delhi addressed various sessions of the same. We are further fortunate in publishing the papers and proceedings of the seminar.
As many as twenty one papers dealing with various aspects of the problem say, National Language/Associate Language, state languages, regional languages, classical languages, dialect language relationship, demand of certain languages for inclusim in the Eighth Schedule of the constitution and so on. We have also incorporated the Welcome Speech of Dr. Mohd. Manzoor Alam, the Chairman of the Institute, the Inaugural Speech of Hon. Mr. Arjun Singh, the Presidential Address of Jb. Hakim Abdul Hameed, the Keynote Address of Prof. Shakeel-ur-Rehman and so on. We have also added in the Appendices four matters equally important from the point of view of the seminar. These are Seminar Report, Statement adopted during the seminar, a list of Contributors and finally a list of Some Learned Scholars who participated in one form or the other in the deliberations of the seminar.
We express our heart-felt thanks to all the participants of the seminar particularly those who contributed their papers and participated in the discussions that took place during the seminar. Our thanks are due to Hon. Mr. Arjun Singh, Jb. Hakim Abdul Hameed, Prof. Shakeel-ur-Rehman, Prof. N.C. Parashar, Prof. A.R. Momin, Prof. Abdul Moghni and others who made a mark by their participation. Lastly we are extremely thankful to the staff and functionaries of the Institute who gave us full cooperation and assistance towards the publication of the volume and the most conspicuous among them are Dr. Mohd. Manzoor Alam, the Chairman of the Institute, Prof. Rahmat Ali and Jb. Mahmood Ali, the Academic and Administrative Directors respectively, Mr. Qamar Ishaque, Public Relations Officer, Jb. S.A.H. Rizvi, Mrs. Seema Malik and Mr. Shahzad Alam (D.T.P. Operator) without whose timely help the volume may not have seen the light of the day.
Introduction
When one talks of the 'Language Problem In India', the first question that crops up in his mind is the question of simple definitions of the terms 'Language' and 'India'. One cannot proceed well without defining them. It is essential to begin with the definition of India as the problem needs its analysis in a particular geographical context and that geographical context is confined to an area which is politically known as India or Bharat. The word India causes a lot of confusion as some in our country are prone to use the term in the context of India of the past when India was a pre-partitioned and united India'. It was that India which was carved out and chiselled by the British Imperialists out of an Asian segment which lies in the south of the Himalayas. It may also be said that the British pieced together a number of scattered political units and made out a united India under their sovereignty and control. The area included countries like Myanmar (previously. Burma), Bangala Desh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. In the second phase Myanmar and Sri Lanka were seperated as independent political units under the British Imperialist control and the then India connoted United India sans Burma and Ceylon. In 1947, the British Imperialists gave socalled freedom to that United India and the country was bifurcated into India and Pakistan. The bigger chunk opted to retain that epithat as India, but qualified it by calling it 'India that is Bharat'. It comprises an area which encompasses Saurastra, Kaccha, Gujrat and Rajasthan in the west; Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh and Uttar Pradesh in the north; Assam, Nagaland, etc. in the north-east; W.Bengal, Orissa and Andman and Nicobar Islands in the east; Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the south; Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa and some Islands in the south-west and so on. Thus not only that a number of dialects and languages are spoken of in this area, but many different types and families of languages do exist and flourish in this vast land known as India. The details as given below in the tables (No.s) 1,2,3 and 4 regarding languages and language families are from the 1961 Census Report- Turning to the definition of 'Language', it cannotes a standardized 'dialect'. The fact is that every language originates in the form of a dialect and in due course of time acquires the form of a language. Thus the original dialect transforms itself into a language and ends its identity altogether, while the language emerges and takes the place of the original dialect along with other dialects of the adjoining areas which too lose their identity under the impact of that emerging language. Thus every dialect does not necessarily end in a language, while every language necessarily begins in the form of a dialect. Normally three factors become instrumental in the making of a language. These are (1) the dialect is used by the state for administrative purposes, (2) it is used by the writers and scholars for their literary and academic activities and (3) the state commissioned and free-lance grammarians take up the task of setting grammatical rules and regulations of that particular dialect in order to check its haphazard growth, so that the same may be transmitted to wider area horizontally and is made intellegible even after the lapse of time in terms of decades and centuries with a view to make the state orders, etc. effective enough for the smooth running of the state and the forceful functioning of the power that be. An example may be cited in the origin of Khari Boli and its growth and development into Hindi and finally its adoption as National Language after 1947. It originated in the Meerut region as a dialect and in due course of a couple of centuries ended in a all powerful language which encompassed into its fold a large number of dialects of a vast area of the Northern India. Thus Khari Boli in its incarnation as Hindi language submerged the identities of Khari Poli (Urdu), Braj Boli (some scholars even designate it as language and call it Braj Bhasha), Awadhi, Bundel Khandi, Chattisgarhi, Bhojpuri, Magahi, Maithili, (some scholars recognise it as a language, but, in fact, it is fighting a grim battle for its recognition as a language), Bhagalpuri, Nepali (though it has been recongised as a language by the Indian Parliament very recently), Garhwali, Kumayuni, Himachali (Pahari), Rajasthani (it has been recognised as a language by the Sahitya Academy, New Delhi), Dogari (like Rajasthani it has also been recognised by the Sahitya Academy), etc.
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