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Open Forum Celebrating linguistic pluralism By Sudarshan Kumar Kapur February 21, this year was celebrated as International Mother Language Day. Isn?t it ironical that when the entire academic, educational and intellectual elite of the country is hell bent on imposing an alien language and culture on the nation and banishing the mother tongue or Indian languages from the very sphere of activity, the UNESCO should ask the world to celebrate February 21 as International Mother Language Day exhorting people to protect their mother tongue and preserve their cultural identity and precious human heritage? No wonder the intelligentsia of the country and the wisemen sitting in the ivory towers of the Ministry of HRD HAVE DUBBED the UNESCO?s move as archaic and anarchical. Who can make them realise that each mother language or regional language is a conceptual universe with cultural and intellectual values and is the best medium for personal development? It is high time that those who are at the helm of affairs heed to the message of UNESCO and accord to the mother tongue/regional languages their due place in the affairs of the State and matters of education, as media of instruction and expression to preserve India?s linguistic and cultural diversity as the prime vehicles of out cultural identity. Mother Tongue and Education All educational experts are uniformly of the opinion that pupils should begin their schooling through the medium of their mother tongue. Where the tender minds of children are subject to an alien medium, the entire educational and learning process becomes unnatural, torturous and cruel as it inflicts a cruel mental strain on the children. But the mandarins sitting in important positions of decisions making in NCERT, CBSE and HRD Ministry seem to be completely ignorant of these basic principles of education and teaching/learning process for otherwise they would not have inflicted on children a medium other than their mother tongue. The Constitutional guarantee of facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups is significant. Over the years they have developed a mindset of ignoring and despising mother tongues or regional languages as medium of instruction, though they have no legal or constitutional sanction for this imposition and their nefarious designs in this direction. All attempts to make them see reason have proved futile. The absence of accountability or answerability on their part has emboldened them to conduct themselves in an arbitrary, irrational and irresponsible manner in matters of education. Drastic measures are needed to change the mindset of the authorities if the Indian languages are to be protected and one's cultural identity and heritage are to be preserved. Constitutional Provisions and Constitutional Lacuna The Eighth Schedule in the Constitution specifies 18 languages out of which 15 languages are languages of the states. The Constitution-framers had taken it for granted that the Indian languages would be adopted as medium of instruction right from the primary stage to university level in their respective states. They had not imagined that the future rulers would impose a language other than the mother language as the medium of instruction in Independent India, i.e. in this so-called sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. Therefore, they did not specifically mention the mother tongue to be the medium of instruction though they recognised and assumed it indirectly while assuring facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage. The authorities at the helm of affairs in the Ministry of HRD and bodies like the NCERT are taking undue, illegal and unconstitutional advantage of this lacuna and thus misinterpreting the Constitution with respect to the medium of instruction. Recognition of the mother tongue as the medium of instruction at the primary state of education by the Constitution is inherent in Article 350A of the Constitution. Article 350A of the Constitution states: ?It shall be the endeavour of every state and of every local authority within the state to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups and the President may issue such directions to any state as he considers necessary or proper for the provision of such facilities.? This provision forms a special directive. The very fact that the Constitution of India guarantees the provision of facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups implies that the Constitution recognises the mother tongue as the medium of instruction at the primary stage of education. Therefore the instruction of children in English at the primary stage of education is unconstitutional and the running of English-medium schools for primary level children in the country is violation of the provisions of the Constitution. It is a fraud on the nation and must be banned by the law. It is in fact a mockery of the very ideals and values enshrined in our Constitution. As the world celebrates February 21 as International Mother Language Day, it is for the society including the judiciary to ponder over the matter lest our mother languages should decay and our rich cultural heritage be destroyed for ever. These modern English-medium schools run by vested interests are a serious threat to the unity and integrity of the country, the various languages of the people as also to the Indian ethos, culture and ethical values. [The author can be contacted at 660/10, Krishna Colony, Gurgaon-122 001 (Haryana)]

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