The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretariat has perceived a well-entrenched Sangh Parivar plot to impose the concept of Hindi, Hindu and Hindustan on secular, multi-ethnic and heterogeneous Indian society.
The purported drive by the Parliamentary Committee on Official Languages to set down Hindi as the medium of instruction in IITs, IIMs, Kendra Vidyalayas and Central varsities in predominantly Hindi-speaking States seemed configured to further the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) Hindu majoritarian agenda.
The Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government’s attempt to impose Hindi would manifest in linguistic chauvinism and language wars. It would fragment the secular and democratic polity founded on federalist principles and relegate other national languages to a subaltern status, the CPI(M) observed.
It noted that extreme language chauvinism caused by similar missteps had convulsed neighbouring Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, leading to restiveness and pogroms. National unity was at stake, it said.
The CPI(M) feared the decision would render questions for competitive examinations in Hindi, thus disadvantaging candidates from non-Hindi speaking States. The purported bid ran against the grain of the Eight Schedule of the Constitution that guaranteed equal status to national languages.
The CPI(M) noted with concern that the committee had recommended knowledge of Hindi as a criterion for Central government employment.
The Constitution encouraged the use of all national languages in education and matters of the State. The region-specific aspects of the education sector have to be recognised, it said.
Flays BJP, Cong.
The CPI(M) accused the BJP and the Congress of conspiring to derail the LDF government. It viewed The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) plea to shift the money laundering trial in the UAE consulate gold case to Bengaluru as part of the “political witch hunt”.
The CPI(M) said the High Court’s order restraining the ED from summoning former Finance Minister Thomas Isaac for questioning on trumped-up money laundering charges related to KIIFB was a blow to the cabalists.
The CPI(M) said the rape charge against Congress legislator Eldose P. Kunnappillil was grave and posed a moral dilemma to the Congress leadership.
It defended the European tour of Cabinet ministers. The CPI(M) would create social awareness against superstition and sorcery. The Centre’s altered rural employment guarantee scheme deprived marginalised sections on the wrong side of the digital divide.