By K. RAMAKOTISWARA RAU

Language Policy

The Working Committee of the Congress has outlined the language policy for India, in its comprehensive resolution of April 4. Earlier, the attitude of the Education Minister of Bombay towards the Universities in the State had created an awkward situation. The three main languages of the State, Marathi, Gujarati and Kannada, would have received a severe set-back if the Minister’s directive to make Hindi the medium of instruction at the University level had been implemented. The Radhakrishnan Commission’s recommendation to replace English, at some future date, by Hindi or the regional language gave no indication as to the authority–the Union Government, the State Government, or the University concerned–that should eventfully decide the question. In a matter of first-rate importance like the medium of instruction in the Universities, the voice of experienced educationists ought to prevail. If the Vice-Chancellors and the academic councils of Universities situated in the Hindi-speaking States wish to change over immediately from English to Hindi, they are welcome to do so. Only, they will have to satisfy themselves and the public that the standards of attainment, particularly in the Sciences, are not lowered. But to substitute Hindi for English as the medium of instruction in the Universities of Calcutta, Mysore or Poona would be contrary to the spirit of the Indian Constitution which seeks to preserve and enrich the fourteen principal languages of India. Such Universities should be left free, (1) to continue the English medium for as long a period as they might consider it necessary, and (2) to replace English by the regional language in gradual stages. The Committee is in general agreement with this view, though it makes it possible for non-Hindi Universities to employ Hindi also as a medium.

The Committee gave special attention to the closely allied problem of education through the mother-tongue, where that happens to be different from the main language of a State. According to the resolution, the mother-tongue should be employed compulsorily at the primary stage and also, if possible, at the lower secondary stage. But this solution cannot satisfy the particular needs of the inhabitants of bi-lingual areas where, in fact, both languages are regional, and both should be recognised as media of instruction in all high schools. Even with regard to a few colleges in such areas, the University Acts can be so amended as to enable a neighbouring University to affiliate them and to make provision for the teaching of all subjects in the mother-tongue of the students, which may be different from the principal language of the State in which the college is situated. But when, later, such students seek admission to the Services of the State, they will have to pass a language test in the principal language of the State. These adjustments and provisions for the future can be made on an all-India basis.

In their excessive zeal for the spread of Hindi, enthusiasts like Sri Purushottamdas Tandon and Seth Govind Das have failed to take note of the conditions prevailing in the non-Hindi areas. Quite unconsciously, they assume the tone of conquerors and wonder why Hindi should not immediately take its ‘rightful’ place as the language of Universities, High Courts, Legislatures and Administrative Services all over India, But other Indian languages have their claims to recognition in several spheres of national endeavour. When these claims are met, there will be an atmosphere of friendliness to Hindi, and it will be studied as a second language in schools and colleges in all the States of the Indian Union, even without the element of compulsion. The Working Committee points out that while non-Hindi citizens everywhere will learn Hindi, the Hindi-speaking citizens must learn some other Indian language of their choice. In this way the various States of the Union will be brought into closer contact culturally and the present rivalries will disappear Indian unity is essentially of a federal character, and the variety and richness of the cultural achievement of the units will enhance the ‘Glory that is Ind’.

A University at Tirupati

The Government of Andhra proposes to introduce a Bill in the forthcoming session of the Legislative-Assembly, at Waltair, to establish a University at Tirupati, This move has been welcomed in all quarters, especially for the reason that the new University will give prominence to the Humanities and the Fine Arts. But opinion is divided about the provisions relating to the affiliation of the colleges in Rayalaseema and Nellore. On the analogy of the Madras and Annamalai Universities, leading educationists like Prof. M. Venkatarangaiya have pointed out that the, new University should be a purely residential and teaching one, leaving the present Andhra University to function as an all-Andhra institution affiliating all the colleges in the Andhra State. This view is sound from the educational standpoint, and expedient from the political one. The controversies which raged with regard to the location of the Capital and the High Court have led to a cleavage between Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema. With Kurnool as Capital, Guntur as the principal seat of the High Court, and Waltair as the summer resort of the Governor and the Legislature, some amount of balance between conflicting claims is likely to be achieved. It is undesirable at this stage to drive a wedge by permitting two separate Universities to affiliate the colleges in their respective regions. It ought to be open to students allover Andhra and even beyond to resort to Waltair and Tirupati for Honours, post-graduate and research courses in the Sciences and the Humanities respectively, while the cultural unity of the new State is not broken up between two affiliating Universities. The politicians have a way of meddling with educational problems; their vision is clouded by petty local interests and considerations of immediate political advantage. If the voice of reason can make itself heard while the Bill passed through the Assembly, the new University at Tirupati will render the same exalted service to the cause of Andhra culture which the Annamalai University has rendered to Tamil. It might even do more, and become a centre of all-India culture, where literary pilgrims from North and South can gather even as the religious pilgrims now gather at the shrine of Sri Venkateswara.

The P. E. N. and the Academy

Two events of great cultural significance have happened since the publication of the previous issue of this Journal. As Triveni is vitally interested in the growth of an all-India literature and the promotion of goodwill through culture, she welcomes the formation of the Academy of Letters at Delhi, and the close association between the Academy and the P. E. N. which was revealed at the conference in Annamalainagar. For over twenty years now, Srimathi Sophia Wadia and her colleagues have striven, through the P. E. N. all-India Centre, to win recognition for the creators of literature in the different Indian languages.

The literary notes and the reviews in the monthly Bulletin. The Indian P. E. N., form a valuable record of the progress of literature in modern India. The handbooks on Bengali, Assamese, Telugu and other literatures published by the P. E. N. provide the necessary background for the evaluation of recent developments. Personal contacts between the litterateurs of the various linguistic regions were promoted through informal gatherings it Bombay or Bangalore, and the conferences in Jaipur, Banaras and Annamalainagar.

The P. E. N. in India has never been a prosperous organisation from the financial point of view. Friends of Srimathi Wadia know how she has covered the annual deficits from her personal account and kept the monthly Bulletin alive. Only last year, Maulana Azad granted a subvention of a thousand rupees for the expenses of the Bulletin. The membership is limited and some of the members find it difficult to pay the annual fee, It is Srimathi Wadia’s idealism and her devotion to the work which have enabled the P. E. N. to function successfully all these years.

Now that the Government of India have sponsored an all-India Academy of Letters–this sounds less ugly than ‘Sahitya Akadamie’–the pioneering work of the P. E. N., will bear rich fruit. The Central Academy and the State Academies, now being formed, will re-build our cultural life with the active co-operation of the poets and writers all over India. There is just a faint suggestion of danger that these Academies may take an official colour and develop a departmental routine. But it is too soon to anticipate. The presence of top-ranking literary men like Sri Masti Venkatesa Iyengar, Dr. Mayadhar Mansinha, and Sri Pingali Lakshmikantam is a hopeful feature. They may be trusted to uphold literary values and to set the tone, in the early years.

It is mainly the work of interpretation through translation that will occupy our literary Academies. It is through an understanding and appreciation of each other’s literatures–classical and modern, including folklore–that sympathy will grow. The heart thus becomes pure, and the vision clear. And in the light of that clear vision, the sense of difference will vanish. While creative effort is a matter of individual achievement, the growth of friendliness through cultural contacts and interpretation of literature is the primary function of organised literary bodies. May the Academy prosper!

¹ April 25.

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