My appeal to all Indians to learn Hindi
By Justice Katju
I am totally opposed to the imposition of Hindi in Tamil Nadu, or anywhere else for that matter.
In a function at Anna University in Chennai, where I spoke a few years back, I advised Tamilians to voluntarily learn Hindi. After my speech an elderly gentleman got up and said that Tamilians should not be compelled to learn Hindi, and English was good enough to be the link language in India. I replied that I was totally against any compulsion. If my suggestion that Tamilians should learn Hindi made sense to Tamilians, they should accept it, but if it did not make sense to them, they should reject it. Where is the compulsion? It is not fair to distort what I said.
Tamil cannot be compared to Hindi, not because Hindi is superior to Tamil (I hold all languages in equal respect) but because it is much more widespread.
Tamil is only spoken in Tamil Nadu, which has a population of 71 million. But Hindi is spoken not only in the Hindi speaking belt, but in most non-Hindi states as a second language.
In the Hindi speaking belt there are 240 million people in Uttar Pradesh, 104 million in Bihar, 87 million in Madhya Pradesh, 83 million in Rajasthan, 40 million in Jharkhand, 30 million in Chhattisgarh, 30 million in Haryana, and 7.5 million in Himachal Pradesh.
But people in many non Hindi speaking states, e.g. Punjab, West Bengal, Kashmir, Orissa, Assam and other North Eastern States, Telangana, etc speak Hindi too ( in addition to their mother tongues ). Thus the number of Hindi speakers in India would be about 15 times that of Tamil speakers.
Apart from that, Pakistanis (who number about 240 million) also speak Hindi, though they call it Urdu ( I talk to many on whatsapp ). Many Bangladeshis ( who number over 175 million ) can also speak it. How then can Tamil be compared with Hindi? Tamil is only a regional language, while Hindi is the language of large parts of our subcontinent, not just India. This is not because Hindi is superior to Tamil, but due to certain historical and social reasons.
Those who say that English is already the link language of India, and hence Hindi is not needed as a link languge, should know that English is known only to about 10-15% elite in India, and not the common man. Anyone coming from Tamil Nadu to other parts of India will realise this. Without knowing Hindi he will experience great difficulty (in fact one of the Tamilian judges in the Supreme Court told me very recently that he had made a great mistake in not learning Hindi since he was finding it difficult in Delhi, but now he has started learning Hindi ).
Only about 10 to 15 per cent Indians know English (though I myself have appealed to people to learn English, since much of the knowledge of the world, particularly scientific knowledge, is in English, and I have strongly criticised those who say “ Angrezi Hatao (abolish English”).
However, the truth is that Hindi is already the link language for Indians, even for many South Indians.
When I was Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, I once went to a shop in Madurai. To my surprise I heard the Tamilian shopkeeper speaking to a customer in Hindi. Since I had picked up some Tamil I said to him, “ Romba nalla Hindi pesreenga. Eppadi ? (You are speaking such good Hindi. How is that?”) He replied, “ Arasiyalle Hindi vendaamnu solvaanga, aanaa engalikkubusiness pananum. Adnaal kathukitten . (Politicians say that we do not want Hindi, but they have their own agenda, while I have to do business. Many of my customers are Hindi speakers. So I have learnt Hindi”). I think this shopkeeper had more sense than those who oppose Hindi.
When I was Chief Justice of Madras High Court I was once invited to Gulbarga Universiy, whch is in northern Karnataka, to give a talk. I flew from Chennai to Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh from where I went on a taxi to Gulbarga. A professor of Gulbarga University had come to Hyderabad, to accompany me to Gulbarga on the taxi.
While travelling on the taxi I heard the professor and the taxi driver speaking with each other in Hindi. I was surprised, since both of them were south Indians, and I asked the professor the reason. He replied that his mother tongue was Kannada, while the taxi driver’s mother tongue was Telugu. He did not kniow Telugu, while the taxi driver did not know Kannada. But since both knew Hindi they could communicate with each other.
When I was a Judge of the Supreme Court I sat for many months on a bench with Justice HK Sema, who is a Naga. He told me Nagaland had 18 tribes, each with its own dialect, but all Nagas knew Hindi ( in addition to knowing their own dialect ). Justice Sema and I often conversed in Hindi.
I dislike both Hindi haters as well as those who wish to impose Hindi on Tamil Nadu and other States. The issue should be considered rationally, instead of emotionally.
No one can dispute that Tamil is a great language, with a long literary history coming down from the Sangam era, in which great works like Tirukkural, Silapathiharam, Manimekhalai, Kambar Ramayanam , and in more recent times, the great poems of the nationalist poet Subramania Bharathi and many others were written.
When Chief Justice of Madras High Court I supported the demand that lawyers in the Madras High Court should be allowed to argue in Tamil (except before judges who have come on a transfer from other States), though judgments should be in English so that people from other States can read them.
When in the Supreme Court, I would sometimes speak a few sentences in Tamil when a Tamilian lawyer appeared before me. I think I was the first Judge in the history of the Supreme Court to speak in Tamil in court. So I introduced Tamil into the portals of the Supreme Court
I appeal to Tamilians and others to once again consider my suggestion that they should voluntarily learn Hindi, as it is in their own interest. If my suggestion does not make sense, please reject it.
Before concluding I wish to say that those who oppose Hindi imposition do so only in rhetoric, but I have opposed it in deeds. Let me explain.
I was a student of Annamalai University in Tamilnadu in 1967-68 when the anti-Hindi agitation was at its peak. Students of the University used to march from the University to the Chidambaram railway station, about 2 miles away, and I would accompany them. At the station we students would blacken the signs in Hindi on the platform posts, and I did the same. I did so because although my mother tongue is Hindi, which I love, I am totally against its imposition on anyone.
So I tell those who oppose Hindi imposition that you do so only in words, but I have done it in deeds. So you cannot match me in opposing Hindi imposition
