Heavy price of linguistic majoritarianism
Too many of contemporary Indias politicians seem to believe the practice of democracy is about enforcing majority opinion when actually its about protecting minority rights and sensibilities. Such erroneous thinking is behind the rise of right-wing Hindu fundamentalism propagated by the powerful cultural organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its political wing, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). During the two decades past, BJP has emerged as the principal opposition party in Parliament and may well sweep to power in the General Election scheduled for next summer. Neither majoritarian politicians, nor their growing army of lemmings-like followers seem to be aware that in a multi-religious and multi-cultural society, crude majoritarianism is a prescription for civil war or low-intensity civil insurrection of the type post-independence India has experienced in Jammu and Kashmir and the north-east.Regrettably, ill-informed and myopic politicians practice crude majoritarianism not only in politics but in education as well, inflicting huge damage on individuals and the economy. A case in point is the linguistic chauvinism being practiced by successive governments in the state of Karnataka since 1994. Under a state government notification of April 29, 1994, all primary schools — government and private — promoted after that date are obliged to teach all subjects in the states majority language Kannada or in vernacular languages. Although its common knowledge that all segments of society aspire for English education for their children, until 2009 teaching of English even as a second language was banned in government primaries (classes I-V). The fig leaf rationale of this legislation prompted by regressive sub-nationalists and supported by small-time vernacular textbook publishers and printers, is the not entirely proven theory that in early childhood, children learn best in their mother tongue. But given the pressing public demand for English-medium schools and steady flight of pupils from government primaries, this law has been practiced more in the breach than observance with government-appointed inspectors easily persuaded to look the other way. Eighteen years after this plainly anti-national law was enacted in Karnataka, the state governments appeal finally came up for hearing on July 5. But stating that the issue involved in this case concerns the fundamental rights of not only the present generation but also the generations yet to be born, a two-judge bench of the apex court referred it to a five-judge constitutional bench. Among the issues framed by the two-judge bench for the constitutional court is whether parents have the right to choose their childrens medium of instruction; whether government can impose the medium of instruction on private unaided schools; and whether the state government can insist upon linguistic minorities being taught only in their mother tongue. To these posers, it should have added one more: Will the state government pay compensation for the blighted lives of an entire generation condemned to low-end jobs within state boundaries because they were denied the chance to learn the language of national and international business and trade? Thats the price of linguistic majoritarianism and sub-optimal democratic practice. Man-made disaster in…
