BY K. RAMAKOTISWARA RAU

No one regrets the application of the provisions of the Criminal Law Amendment Act more than the Hon. Mr. C. Rajagopalachariar, the Premier of Madras. The procedure is as distasteful to him as the deportation of Lala Lajpat Rai under Regulation 3 of 1818 must have been to John Morley, the Liberal Secretary of State for India. ‘C. R.’ felt constrained, however, to oppose the immediate repeal of the Act, because, under the existing law, there was no way of bringing to book the hirelings who, day after day, howled in front of his residence and poured forth abusive language in order to make him resile from the policy of teaching Hindustani in schools under a system of modified compulsion. Legitimate methods of propaganda, like processions and meetings, were freely permitted; even the indecent and highly objectionable campaign of vilification in the Tamil press was not interfered with. But when the so-called ‘Satyagrahis’ sought to make life intolerable for the Premier, and when it was not possible at a moment’s notice to forge new legislation to meet the emergency, some of the mildest sections of the Criminal Law Amendment Act were invoked.

The Congress was all along fought this ‘lawless law,’ and it can be no pleasure to a Congress Premier to use it even against his misguided countrymen. In an extremely powerful and moving speech in the Madras Legislative Assembly last month, the Hon. Mr. T. Prakasam, the Revenue Minister, fore-shadowed the repeal of the Act and the introduction of fresh legislation for this and similar Contingencies. This ought to be done at the earliest opportunity, for, the Congress has been placed a false position, and its opponents have not been slow to exploit the situation. An organization which stands for the utter vindication of civil liberties must be above the temptation to exploit obsolete and unwanted laws, even under the most trying conditions.

Let us try to analyse, the root causes of the trouble. There are people in South India, particularly in the Tamil districts, who are genuinely apprehensive that a new language like Hindustani is likely to affect adversely the growth of their mother tongue, Tamil. It was to placate this section of the public that Premier gave the assurance that failure to pass the test in Hindustani would not be a bar to promotion to a higher standard. He further pointed out, on many occasions, that the mother tongue could not possibly suffer, because it was to be taught compulsorily and it would be the medium of instruction in all non-language subjects, right up to the end of the high school course. A great lover of Tamil himself, it was not to be supposed that he would do anything to harm it. All this ought to have allayed suspicion, but extraneous considerations like that of Brahmin and non-Brahmin, of Aryan and Dravidian, of North and South, were, imported into the Controversy, and the worst passions of the ignorant and the credulous were roused. Even the right of the Ministry to make this alteration in the educational curriculum was questioned, and public men of the non-Congress persuasion lent the movement the prestige of their name. Thus, starting as a movement for the protection of Tamil, it developed into a convenient means to discredit and embarrass the Congress Ministry and its Chief.

It is being asked by friendly individuals who are not opposed to the spread of Hindustani, why there should be this eagerness to teach it compulsorily to South Indian boys an girls on the off-chance of its becoming the language of the Central Administration and of inter-provincial contact at some future time; But if the end is perceived to be desirable and even inevitable, and the means employed are not subversive of immediate local interests, there need be no objection to a beginning being made here and now, within a limited sphere. Some misunderstanding has been caused by stray declarations that Hindustani is to occupy the place now held by English. In this connection, one or two points have to be emphasised. Hindustani is not meant to be–and it can never be the language of legislation, administration, or education-primary, secondary or University–within every Province of India under Federation, in the way that English now is. In all non-Hindustani Provinces, the provincial language must have undisputed sway in all these spheres of activity. Nor can Hindustani take the place of English as the language of higher culture and of international contacts. A working knowledge of Hindustani is needed chiefly for purposes of inter-provincial communication. In the Central Government, it will share the primacy with English for a transitional period, and ultimately become the sole language of the Federal Administration. This,I conceive, is the plan envisaged by the leaders of thought in India, and no serious objection can be taken to it. An artificial stimulus has been given to the anti-Hindustani agitation by Hindustani being equated with the Congress Government. Opposition to the one seemed to demand, logically, opposition to the other!

In recent years, the Indian Universities have come in for a considerable amount of criticism, both in respect of their ideals and of their methods of functioning. During periods of rapid change, it is difficult for Universities, which are essentially conservative in outlook, to adjust themselves to altered conditions, and to become once again centres of light and leading. It sometimes happens that great ideas germinate outside the Universities; only after a period of doubt and dissent do the Universities fall in line with progressive movements. In India particularly, where they are not indigenous to the soil, they have been slow to respond to the surge of national idealism. But it is not right that we should belittle the very valuable work which the Indian Universities have done for some generations, especially by way of modernising the intellectuals of India and bringing them into touch with the currents of progress in other lands. Our Universities certainly need reforming, and drastic reforming too. But to plead that the State in India should pay for only that kind of education for which it has a definite and immediate use, and that Universities should be fostered mainly by the munificence of private individuals, is definitely to seek to put the clock back. University education is needed for the training of the intellect and for the enrichment of the spirit. It is a process of keeping the human mind alert and of enabling it to concentrate attention on the higher values of life.

In this issue of ‘Triveni,’ Mr. C. L. R. Sastri makes out a case for the growth of ‘Little Journalism’–the type of journalism that can rank with literature. At a time when mass production and mass appeal have invaded the domain of journalism, it is difficult for the still, small voice of ‘choice’ journalism to make itself heard. False standards are set up, and success is measured by the net sales of copies and the growth of revenue from advertisements. Obviously, this is as perverse as the measuring of a man’s worth by the bank-balance he holds. In a necessarily restricted sphere, and with few chances of immediate, objective success, the journals which seek to educate public opinion and to point the way to the highest in Life and Literature, must continue to strive according to their lights. In the case of journals and newspapers conducted in the Indian languages, a definite tendency to cater to sensationalism is on the increase. When the public taste has been vulgarised, the loss to the cause of culture is irretrievable. An attempt must be made to protect ourselves from this rapidly spreading cult of ugliness. And the best way of doing it is to stand by whatever is noble and uplifting in journalism.

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