India's Language Wars: Should English Be Replaced In Higher Learning Institutes?
The latest in India's language wars. A parliament panel backs Hindi plus regional languages to replace English at centres of higher education. Southern states say this threatens India's linguistic diversity. Supporters say English is a relic of the colonial past. "Projecting Hindi speakers alone as Indian citizens and others as second-class citizens reeks of divide-and-rule," said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin as the parliament's language committee reportedly said centre-run educational institutions should switch away from English to "Hindi or local language." "Don't impose another language war on us," Mr Stalin said, directing his words at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose party BJP, as a stated policy, favours Hindi as a link among all states.
