Embrace English, grasp the world
Source: By Sunanda K Datta- Ray: The Free Press Journal
The promise of Independence Day is a good time to consider the inequality that underlies the unrest against Union Public Service Commission examinations. Objections to English would disappear if all Indians had the opportunity to master the language on a level playing field. Now, ordinary folk who have not been educated at English medium schools feel discriminated against. The 58 per cent who don’t speak Hindi also fear that the controversy will be exploited to strengthen what is called “Hindi imperialism.” Narendra Modi has displayed tact in not pressing ahead with a threatened campaign to spread the use of Hindi. But neither South India nor the northeastern states can be sure this is not only a strategic pause. Significantly, Modi’s first public speech in the south after assuming office was in English. The only way he can reassure people that his promise of “development, good governance and stability” will, in fact, recast Indian society in a more equal mould is by ensuring that English is no longer the language of privilege as it has been all these 67 years of Independence because it was so under the British.
It was taught in only a handful of elite institutions whose products alone succeeded in UPSC exams and bagged the best corporate positions. That meant exclusion and discrimination. Those charges would disappear only if all state schools taught English well or, better still, if they taught all subjects only in English. It will take time, money and effort. Above all, it calls for a demonstration of will. But that is the revolution Modi cannot afford to shirk if he truly wants a better India.
UPSC candidates now have the option of taking the screening tests in English or Hindi, but even the Hindi version has passages in English to test comprehension of that language. Hundreds of candidates who took the tests and failed, or aspire to take the tests, hit the streets of Delhi protesting against the English passages. They complain that these tests put those who are not proficient in English at a disadvantage. But the very fact that their protest signs are in English show we cannot dispense with the language.
Although almost every state government has tried to discourage the growth of English, its power has only grown because of its promise of material and social benefits. Most of our swadeshi politicians send their own children to English- language schools. The medium of instruction for higher education is almost entirely English. It is, therefore, loaded against students who did not attend English- language schools mainly because they were too poor to do so. Successive central and state governments have done precious little to take English to the poor.
Few free or cheap schools use English as the medium of instruction. Few even teach it properly. English is indisputably an Indian language now, and the most useful language in India. It may not be the first language of spontaneous expression but it is the most powerful unifying force we have. English is the only means of communication between Kerala and Kashmir. It is our only outlet to the world, and the only means of ensuring that Indian school and college education doesn’t fall even further short of global norms.
Now is the time, therefore, to meet grievances by announcing the introduction of a new schooling system in which English won’t be confined to the children of rich parents. Now is the time to destroy once and for all the conspiracy to ensure that 300 million people who are blest with a knowledge of English lord it over 1.2 billion Indians. That can be done by enabling, nay obliging, everyone to acquire equal mastery over English so that India has just one class, albeit with wealth providing inevitable gradations.
One hopes that the promise of an all- party meeting to discuss the UPSC exams will lead to some such positive development and is not a smokescreen for ruinous fanaticism. Ultra- nationalistic strategists in the Bharatiya Janata Party may hope to use the furore to promote the government’s commitment to Hindi and Sanskrit and a majoritarian agenda. Nothing could be more detrimental to India’s long- term interests than a bigoted plan to elevate Hindi and further reduce the importance of English in public life.
As it is, the level of English in India is atrociously low. There’s no comparison with Japan or China which didn’t have the heritage (call it curse or blessing) of English. They were forced to develop their own languages not only for national unification but as the instrument of modern education. For historical and demographic reasons, this was not possible in India.
Modi must know there can be no effective administration except through English. Dispensing justice in a court, governing a district or running a department are very different from making patriotic speeches in legislatures. Political speeches can be in Bengali, Gujarati or any other Indian language, but not administrative memorandums. Much is made of the fact that the careers of lakhs of young Indians is at stake, and that 900,000 candidates will appear for the UPSC’s preliminary test on August 24. But this is nothing compared to what is really at stake – stability, administrative efficiency, the rule of law and everything that makes for caring and responsible government.
Politicians alone can’t provide that, not even if they are honest, efficient and blest with the best intentions in the world. They need a supporting infrastructure, which means streamlined, competent and incorruptible civil services. The infrastructure will be further weakened if Hindi is a recruit’s main asset. This is not only because far from being the majority language, Hindi is used only by some 420 million Indians. It is because Hindi is not sufficiently developed for judicial, administrative or scientific purposes.
National integration will suffer if a language that is associated with cowbelt imperialism is foisted on the entire country. The Left’s demand for “ question papers in all Indian languages" would mean multilingual chaos and administrative breakdown. The government’s craven decision to ignore marks for English language comprehension skills make Civil Services Aptitude Tests meaningless. The objective should not be to ensure that exams are " language neutral" – quoting Jitendra Singh -- but to insist on the highest possible standard of English while making sure every child can attain it.
Abolishing the CSAT may buy immediate peace. But all- round social and economic growth can be ensured only by committing far more resources to using English as the medium of instruction ( or, at least, teaching it as a compulsory subject from the lowest class) in all state schools throughout the country. That alone will end discrimination and elitism by giving all Indian children, whether at Doon School or in the humblest village pathshala, the equal opportunity that underlies a meritocracy.
The promise of Independence Day is a good time to consider the inequality that underlies the unrest against Union Public Service Commission examinations. Objections to English would disappear if all Indians had the opportunity to master the language on a level playing field. Now, ordinary folk who have not been educated at English medium schools feel discriminated against. The 58 per cent who don’t speak Hindi also fear that the controversy will be exploited to strengthen what is called “Hindi imperialism.” Narendra Modi has displayed tact in not pressing ahead with a threatened campaign to spread the use of Hindi. But neither South India nor the northeastern states can be sure this is not only a strategic pause. Significantly, Modi’s first public speech in the south after assuming office was in English. The only way he can reassure people that his promise of “development, good governance and stability” will, in fact, recast Indian society in a more equal mould is by ensuring that English is no longer the language of privilege as it has been all these 67 years of Independence because it was so under the British.
It was taught in only a handful of elite institutions whose products alone succeeded in UPSC exams and bagged the best corporate positions. That meant exclusion and discrimination. Those charges would disappear only if all state schools taught English well or, better still, if they taught all subjects only in English. It will take time, money and effort. Above all, it calls for a demonstration of will. But that is the revolution Modi cannot afford to shirk if he truly wants a better India.
UPSC candidates now have the option of taking the screening tests in English or Hindi, but even the Hindi version has passages in English to test comprehension of that language. Hundreds of candidates who took the tests and failed, or aspire to take the tests, hit the streets of Delhi protesting against the English passages. They complain that these tests put those who are not proficient in English at a disadvantage. But the very fact that their protest signs are in English show we cannot dispense with the language.
Although almost every state government has tried to discourage the growth of English, its power has only grown because of its promise of material and social benefits. Most of our swadeshi politicians send their own children to English- language schools. The medium of instruction for higher education is almost entirely English. It is, therefore, loaded against students who did not attend English- language schools mainly because they were too poor to do so. Successive central and state governments have done precious little to take English to the poor.
Few free or cheap schools use English as the medium of instruction. Few even teach it properly. English is indisputably an Indian language now, and the most useful language in India. It may not be the first language of spontaneous expression but it is the most powerful unifying force we have. English is the only means of communication between Kerala and Kashmir. It is our only outlet to the world, and the only means of ensuring that Indian school and college education doesn’t fall even further short of global norms.
Now is the time, therefore, to meet grievances by announcing the introduction of a new schooling system in which English won’t be confined to the children of rich parents. Now is the time to destroy once and for all the conspiracy to ensure that 300 million people who are blest with a knowledge of English lord it over 1.2 billion Indians. That can be done by enabling, nay obliging, everyone to acquire equal mastery over English so that India has just one class, albeit with wealth providing inevitable gradations.
One hopes that the promise of an all- party meeting to discuss the UPSC exams will lead to some such positive development and is not a smokescreen for ruinous fanaticism. Ultra- nationalistic strategists in the Bharatiya Janata Party may hope to use the furore to promote the government’s commitment to Hindi and Sanskrit and a majoritarian agenda. Nothing could be more detrimental to India’s long- term interests than a bigoted plan to elevate Hindi and further reduce the importance of English in public life.
As it is, the level of English in India is atrociously low. There’s no comparison with Japan or China which didn’t have the heritage (call it curse or blessing) of English. They were forced to develop their own languages not only for national unification but as the instrument of modern education. For historical and demographic reasons, this was not possible in India.
Modi must know there can be no effective administration except through English. Dispensing justice in a court, governing a district or running a department are very different from making patriotic speeches in legislatures. Political speeches can be in Bengali, Gujarati or any other Indian language, but not administrative memorandums. Much is made of the fact that the careers of lakhs of young Indians is at stake, and that 900,000 candidates will appear for the UPSC’s preliminary test on August 24. But this is nothing compared to what is really at stake – stability, administrative efficiency, the rule of law and everything that makes for caring and responsible government.
Politicians alone can’t provide that, not even if they are honest, efficient and blest with the best intentions in the world. They need a supporting infrastructure, which means streamlined, competent and incorruptible civil services. The infrastructure will be further weakened if Hindi is a recruit’s main asset. This is not only because far from being the majority language, Hindi is used only by some 420 million Indians. It is because Hindi is not sufficiently developed for judicial, administrative or scientific purposes.
National integration will suffer if a language that is associated with cowbelt imperialism is foisted on the entire country. The Left’s demand for “ question papers in all Indian languages" would mean multilingual chaos and administrative breakdown. The government’s craven decision to ignore marks for English language comprehension skills make Civil Services Aptitude Tests meaningless. The objective should not be to ensure that exams are " language neutral" – quoting Jitendra Singh -- but to insist on the highest possible standard of English while making sure every child can attain it.
Abolishing the CSAT may buy immediate peace. But all- round social and economic growth can be ensured only by committing far more resources to using English as the medium of instruction ( or, at least, teaching it as a compulsory subject from the lowest class) in all state schools throughout the country. That alone will end discrimination and elitism by giving all Indian children, whether at Doon School or in the humblest village pathshala, the equal opportunity that underlies a meritocracy.
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