🚀 go-pugleaf

    Very interesting page, thanks for posting the links!


-- 
Thomas M. Goethe

"Oldus Fartus" <denisand@netNOSPAMspace.net.au> wrote in message
news:bgcimv$2d91$1@otis.netspace.net.au...
> In news:bgcgk4$ndng5$1@ID-192964.news.uni-berlin.de,
> By coicidence I was helping one of my grandchildren do some research on
> this subject recently, so had the information at hand.
>
> From http://www.indianchild.com/linguistic_states_india.htm
>
> "As drafted, the constitution provided that Hindi and English were to be
> the languages of communication for the central government until 1965,
> when the switch to Hindi was mandated. The Official Languages Act of
> 1963, pursuing this mandate, said that Hindi would become the sole
> official national language in 1965. English, however, would continue as
> an "associate additional official language." After ten years, a
> parlia-mentary committee was to consider the situation and whether the
> status of English should continue if the knowledge of Hindi among
> peoples of other native languages had not progressed sufficiently. The
> act, however, was ambiguous about whether Hindi could be imposed on
> unwilling states by 1975. In 1964 the Ministry of Home Affairs requested
> all central ministries to state their progress on the switch to Hindi
> and their plans for the period after the transition date in 1965. The
> news of this directive led to massive riots and self-immolations in
> Tamil Nadu in late 1964 and early 1965, leading the central government,
> then run by the Congress (see Glossary), to back away from its stand. A
> conference of Congress leaders, cabinet ministers, and chief ministers
> of all the states was held in New Delhi in June 1965. Non-Hindi-speaking
> states were assured that Hindi would not be imposed as the sole language
> of communication between the central government and the states as long
> as even one state objected. In addition any of the Scheduled Languages
> could be used in taking examinations for entry into the central
> government services."
>
> Further on, and interestingly the article has this to say
>
> "Only around 3 percent of the population (about 28 million people in
> 1995) is truly fluent in both English and an Indian language. By
> necessity, a substantial minority are able to speak two Indian
> languages; even in the so-called linguistic states, there are minorities
> who do not speak the official language as their native tongue and must
> therefore learn it as a second language. Many tribal people are
> bilingual. Rural-urban migrants are frequently bilingual in the regional
> standard language as well as in their village dialect. In Bombay, for
> example, many migrants speak Hindi or Marathi in addition to their
> native tongue. Religious celebrations, popular festivals, and political
> meetings are typically carried on in the regional language, which may be
> unintelligible to many attendees. Bilingualism in India, however, is
> inextricably linked to social context. South Asia's long history of
> foreign rule has fostered what Clarence Maloney terms "the linguistic
> flight of the elite." Language--either Sanskrit, Persian, or
> English--has formed a barrier to advancement that only a few have been
> fortunate enough to overcome."
>
> http://rajbhasha.nic.in/dolruleseng.htm gives the full text of the
> relevant Act, including which language is to be used, and when.
>
> -- 
> Cheers
> Oldus Fartus.
>
>