• Become a Fan!
  • Follow On Twitter
    • Subcribe to Our SMS Channel

    India Has No National Language

    Posted In Headline, India, Thoughtworks - By NitiN Kumar Jain On Sunday, August 22nd, 2010 With 11 Comments
      



    Yes, you heard it right. India has no national language. Shocked?? I was shocked too when heard it for the first time.

    Indian flag thoughtworks india headline India Has No National Language

    Since the very beginning of our studies in schools, we have been regularly taught (as far as I remember) that Hindi is our national language. Hindi came from Sanskrit as many other Indian languages did is the most spoken language in India and at least I was unaware of the fact that neither Hindi nor any other language is our national language.

    Although, Hindi is the official language of Republic of India and English the secondary official language.

    So why we have been always told that:

    • Lotus is our national flower.
    • Tiger is our national animal.
    • Peacock is our national bird.
    • Vande Matram is our national song.
    • Jan gan man is our national anthem.
    • Hindi is our national language.

    Hindi language thoughtworks india headline India Has No National Language

    Last one is definitely not correct. After arguing it for 15 minutes and then Googling it, I came to know the fact that there is no national language defined for India in the constitution of India. Shocking!!!!

    Wiki also says:

    The principal official language of the Republic of India is Hindi while English is the secondary official language. The constitution of India states that “The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script.” Neither the Constitution of India nor Indian law specifies a National language, a position supported by a High Court ruling.

    To again confirm it, not from the authorities, but from the little kids at my home, I asked them all questions in the bullet points above and to my surprise they did told me that Hindi is our national language. 5th-8th standard they study in. This confirmed that in our schools specially in Northern region where Hindi is spoken, it is considered and taught as our National Language.

    We are not studying the facts.

    thoughtworks india headline India Has No National Language

    NitiN Kumar Jain

    Nitin works in an IT MNC professionally but blogs and owns NKJ Live. He is also the co-owner of a professional start-up ARGHAM BYTES

    Website - Twitter - Facebook - More Posts

    Tags: ,
    • Totanmoy78

      Yeah.. That is true. That happens especially in Hindi speaking region. Let me share my experience.
      Few months ago I went to Delhi to sit in Group Discussion and Interview of one company where Government have some stake. To my horror, half of the participants spoke in HINDI while many ( some of them from South Indian States) just was busy in configuring what was happening. We were told that HINDI is our “National Language ( Rastra Bhasa)” so every one should speak and understand it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      I wanted to clarify that Hindi is only an official language, not national language. Resistance was just unimaginable.
      Unfortunately, those people whose mother tongue is not hindi have to pay the price. Little wonder why Hindi is hated so much in many of staes, especially in South India.

    • http://nitinkumarjain.in Nitin Kumar Jain

      I am completely with you on this … I, personally, always thought that hindi is our national language … Never lived in any of the South Indian state but have the same feeling that they would prefer people speaking local language … the reason being the comfort …

      It is only by a chance that Delhi is our capital, Govt of India operates from there and the capital lies in the northern part of India where Hindi is mostly spoken …

      There is nothing to hate about any particular language .. Instead embrace all and be proud of your own …

    • http://nitinkumarjain.in Nitin Kumar Jain

      I am completely with you on this … I, personally, always thought that hindi is our national language … Never lived in any of the South Indian state but have the same feeling that they would prefer people speaking local language … the reason being the comfort …

      It is only by a chance that Delhi is our capital, Govt of India operates from there and the capital lies in the northern part of India where Hindi is mostly spoken …

      There is nothing to hate about any particular language .. Instead embrace all and be proud of your own …

      • Vinod

        NO Nitin, its not the comfort. I will tell you what’s the reason. All south Indian states including Maharashtra have their own Official languages & have no relation to Hindi as a spoken language whatsoever. India is a nation which wasn’t mean to be a country, it was basically a bunch of different territories, but when British invaded those territories, question of existence arose & all territories got together to fight the British. When we became independent, Hindi & english were assigned an official status of an Indian union, which however doesn’t make other regional languages any less important. We Marathi’s face the same situation in Maharashtra. We have seen huge tide of migrants from all over India & they become pain in the ass when they simply refuse to learn Marathi by saying “We speak Hindi. That way we don’t need to learn Marathi”. On top of that, I’ve even been asked not to speak in Marathi among a lot of people who couldn’t understand what I was saying, just because they never learnt Marathi. This is happening everywhere. This is my kind request to all Indians, no matter what where you go & settle learn the regional/official/local language. This way you will not face the fury/prejudice of the locals.

        • http://nitinkumarjain.in NitiN Kumar Jain

          I somewhat agree with you that people should learn the local language wherever they are residing for a longer duration … It is true with many languages … e.g. somebody speaking kannad plans to settle down in chennai should and would learn tamil … these languages are spoken per state … Hindi is accepted by many states and Maharashtra is one of them .. best eg is bollywood industry being run from mumbai …

          When hindi speakers migrate they expect to talk in hindi where hindi is spoken and english otherwise …

          I personally won’t try to learn a local language if I plan to reside only for couple of months or a year unless I am interested in learning or I face damn issues in communicating with local people …

          If somebody visits japan for a month .. .english is expected to be official language but it is good to learn japanese if u r staying there for a longer duration or have professional benefits …

          Majority always play a role in deciding the local language .. if u live in a community where hindi is mostly spoken then wont tend to learn a local language or u shud otherwise …

          I live in Pune too and don’t face problems in communication as 99% people here speak Hindi or English .. so its okay as long as I am able to communicate …

          Communication is the key .. whatever language it may b in …

    • S.R.Guru Prasad

      friends now the High Court of Gujarat has also held that India has no national language, please check the following link. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Theres-no-national-language-in-India-Gujarat-High-Court/articleshow/5496231.cms

      • http://nitinkumarjain.in NitiN Kumar Jain

        Nice pointer Mr Prasad … India has certainly no national language …

    • Mathai

      I’m not a Hindi speaker but I do understand the language with some level of proficiency. (I speak 4 other Indian languages fluently btw) Not knowing Hindi does not make me much less of an Indian in any way and I think people should lose their perceptions about this “rashtra bhasha”.

      Look at Singapore as an example, they have 4 official languages. English is taught as the main language in all schools and then students have the option to choose any one of the others as their ‘Mother Tongue’.

      Finally I’d like to say ‘We don’t need a single language to unite our country, instead respect and acknowledge all the cultures that constitute our great country”

      • http://nitinkumarjain.in NitiN Kumar Jain

        I do understand your point … Hindi is not the only language in India and making it a national language will not change anything either … the point of discussion here is only that we in North India in our text books are taught that Hindi is our National language … Don’t know where this came in the perception there ….

        India does not need any national language ..

        • vinod

          I agree with Nitin. We need no language to tell us who we are. We are & will always be Indians, no matter what language we speak.

          • http://nitinkumarjain.in NitiN Kumar Jain

            Thanks :)