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Mulayam's call to shun English is a retrograde one - Hindustan Times
Recycling is an environment-friendly process and old things, as much as possible, should be recycled. However, it's another thing to recycle old ideas, especially redundant ones. Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's call to ban the use of English in Parliament should be seen in
this light. Speaking at a function, Mr Yadav said many leaders had a 'double standard' when it came to Hindi, as they asked for votes in Hindi but spoke in English in Parliament.
His suggestion to use one's mother tongue in Parliament is a flawed one and does not work in favour of his avowed intention to promote Hindi.
The mother tongue of more than half of the members of the Lok Sabha is not Hindi and if one were to take heed of his suggestion, there would be more than 20 different languages spoken on the floor of the House. The resultant scene can only be described as pandemonium.
The idea of English as a vestige of our colonial past is an outdated one as the language now belongs to all its speakers, both native and non-native. In multilingual India, English has become the thread that connects various states and cultures.
Many states have suffered because of an aversion towards English - West Bengal is a case in point. India's IT/ITES revolution owes a great deal of its success to the language.
That many political leaders - including Mr Yadav himself - who talk about the need to shun English, send their children to English-medium educational institutions here and abroad exposes their interest in maintaining the social status quo by limiting access to English to the privileged few.
The SP leader's statement also exposes his party's paucity of ideas in this election season. UP has recently been in the news for the wrong reasons, including communal tension, which left many dead and many more living in relief camps.
The healthcare scenario, with a high infant mortality rate, is not impressive either. Rather than focusing on these pressing issues, Mr Yadav has chosen to revive the English language issue.
It's an argument that seems specious as his son Akhilesh Yadav himself holds a degree from an Australian university.
The younger Yadav now must work towards dispelling the impression that his government and party are resorting to retrograde ways to reach out to the people and, instead, steer the state on the path towards development. Shunning English will certainly not help UP do that.
Recycling is an environment-friendly process and old things, as much as possible, should be recycled. However, it's another thing to recycle old ideas, especially redundant ones. Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's call to ban the use of English in Parliament should be seen in
this light. Speaking at a function, Mr Yadav said many leaders had a 'double standard' when it came to Hindi, as they asked for votes in Hindi but spoke in English in Parliament.
His suggestion to use one's mother tongue in Parliament is a flawed one and does not work in favour of his avowed intention to promote Hindi.
The mother tongue of more than half of the members of the Lok Sabha is not Hindi and if one were to take heed of his suggestion, there would be more than 20 different languages spoken on the floor of the House. The resultant scene can only be described as pandemonium.
The idea of English as a vestige of our colonial past is an outdated one as the language now belongs to all its speakers, both native and non-native. In multilingual India, English has become the thread that connects various states and cultures.
Many states have suffered because of an aversion towards English - West Bengal is a case in point. India's IT/ITES revolution owes a great deal of its success to the language.
That many political leaders - including Mr Yadav himself - who talk about the need to shun English, send their children to English-medium educational institutions here and abroad exposes their interest in maintaining the social status quo by limiting access to English to the privileged few.
The SP leader's statement also exposes his party's paucity of ideas in this election season. UP has recently been in the news for the wrong reasons, including communal tension, which left many dead and many more living in relief camps.
The healthcare scenario, with a high infant mortality rate, is not impressive either. Rather than focusing on these pressing issues, Mr Yadav has chosen to revive the English language issue.
It's an argument that seems specious as his son Akhilesh Yadav himself holds a degree from an Australian university.
The younger Yadav now must work towards dispelling the impression that his government and party are resorting to retrograde ways to reach out to the people and, instead, steer the state on the path towards development. Shunning English will certainly not help UP do that.
