BJP chief claims English bad for India, triggers outrage

[Patriots]

NEW DELHI: BJP chief Rajnath Singh has stirred up a huge controversy with his comment that English has caused a great loss to India by eroding its cultural values and stymieing the growth of Sanskrit in the country. The comment was greeted with derision by intellectuals and political leaders on Friday.


Speaking at a function here on Thursday, Singh had said, "The English language has caused a great loss to the country. We are losing our language, our culture as there are hardly any people who speak Sanskrit now."

A television report showed Singh as saying: "We have started forgetting our religion and culture these days. There are only 14,000 people left in this country speaking in Sanskrit. Knowledge acquired out of English is not harmful but the Anglicization penetrated into the youth is dangerous."

It took a while for the BJP chief's remarks to circulate but the reaction would have left his party colleagues wincing as the all-around criticism comes just as the main Opposition is looking to project itself as committed to a modern social order and dynamic growth.

Singh's views sounded like a throwback to when the BJP was often labeled a "Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan" party and not one that claims to have nurtured the IT revolution to its full potential during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure as the prime minister.

Singh's critics, ranging from I&B minister Manish Tewari, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury and Dalit ideologue Chandrabhan Prasad, were quick to point out that Singh had betrayed his medieval world-view while insisting that English has not wiped out "Indianness".

For most Indians English is an additional skill apart from their mother tongues. Facility in English is seen to have allowed India to connect with the world and given it a critical share of the BPO and IT business which provides employment to more than 20 lakh people, Singh's critics said.

Tewari said, "I sometimes feel like laughing at our friends. On one side their vision document is outsourced to people who don't speak any language other than English. Is this medievalism or hypocrisy?"

Tewari pointed out that "This attempt to create a dispute over language or saying that one language is better or worse that another, doesn't strengthen the country and is not expected from a responsible political party."

CPM leader Sitaram Yechury criticized Singh saying the comments reflect the BJP chief's preoccupation with Hindu revivalism. He said that just by learning a language, people don't lose cultural roots or foundations. "For most Indians, English is an additional language, and it does not insulate or separate people from their identities," he said. Knowing English will only help Indians to advance and develop further.

Dalit ideologue Chandrabhan Prasad also criticized Rajnath Singh, saying BJP was opposed to English language as it is at odds with modernity itself. "All things Indian by tradition, be it caste, be it social structure, political structure, have stopped India from growing into a modern society. If English is eliminating tradition, it is also eliminating a culture that is caste-driven," he said.

"I am not surprised that BJP is upset. The party cannot succeed in a caste-neutral India. It is opposing English because of its opposition to modernity itself," he said.

BJP chief claims English bad for India, triggers outrage - The Times of India

 

[Spring Onion]

A television report showed Singh as saying: "We have started forgetting our religion and culture these days. There are only 14,000 people left in this country speaking in Sanskrit. Knowledge acquired out of English is not harmful but the Anglicization penetrated into the youth is dangerous

Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/centra...bad-india-triggers-outrage.html#ixzz2ZYrUHFrO

what are reasons for downfall of sanskriti/values in India?

 

[Truth Finder]

I am a student of English literature. But, at the same time I take pride in my mother tongue and culture. Having command over 2/3 languages is not bad at all. And, religion has nothing to do with language.

By the way, BJP spokespersons are very good and fluent in English.

 

[Spring Onion]

I am a student of English literature. But, at the same time I take pride in my mother tongue and culture. Having command over 2/3 languages is not bad at all. And, religion has nothing to do with language.

By the way, BJP spokespersons are very good and fluent in English.

but its chief is NOT

 

[third eye]

The BJP appears to be hurtling down wards as far as public opinion goes.

Wish they would shut up & focus inwards.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

They are right. India should not have English as their de facto official language.

If the Government of West Bengal wants to communicate with the Government of Tamil Nadu, why don't they use an Indian language instead of English? Why is it that Manmohan Singh addresses the nation using English?

If Hindi is too politically sensitive, then why not Sanskrit? It is shocking that there are only 14,000 Indians who can write Sanskrit.

In China, everybody can write in the same language with which Sun Tzu wrote the Art of War over 2500 years ago. The characters are still the same as they were before.

And yet in another thread, an Indian member was accusing China of giving up our culture! Have you heard Hu Jintao once speaking English in public? I don't think he has spoken English ever, in public or private.

 

[Bang Galore]

They are right. India should not have English as their de facto official language.

If the Government of West Bengal wants to communicate with the Government of Tamil Nadu, why don't they use an Indian language instead of English? Why is it that Manmohan Singh addresses the nation using English?

If Hindi is too politically sensitive, then why not Sanskrit? It is shocking that there are only 14,000 Indians who can write Sanskrit.

In China, everybody can write in the same language with which Sun Tzu wrote the Art of War over 2500 years ago. The characters are still the same as they were before.

And yet in another thread, an Indian member was accusing China of giving up our culture! Have you heard Hu Jintao once speaking English in public? I don't think he has spoken English ever, in public or private.

That is all so much ado about nothing. Sanskrit was never a widely spoken language, even at its heights. Most ordinary folks never spoke sanskrit.

What Indian language would a CM of West Bengal use with one of TN? There isn't any. Comparisons with China are not relevant. There is no Indian language that is widely accepted as a means of communication, certainly not officially.

This is just more of the imbecilic talk that comes in from time to time by right wing bozos.

 

[Omtatsat]

The problem is not with English per se but because the entire intellectual discourse in the country has been hijacked by it. The "intelligentsia" seems besotted by it and harbours a proportionate contempt for Indian languages. How can fruitful exchange of ideas be conducted in an alien language and when one has to struggle to compress the natural flow of thoughts into the limited vocabulary of a foreign tongue?

And I must seek apology from my brothers from South India but to then must go a large part of blame for propagating Hindi Phobia and the resultant continuation of a foreign tongue - a situation utterly shameful for such a large nation with such a rich choice of languages. If you dont like Hindi -- take Sanskrit, but please let us get rid of this pathetic and condemnable situation of using a foreign tongue as the defacto national language.

 

[third eye]

They are right. India should not have English as their de facto official language.

If the Government of West Bengal wants to communicate with the Government of Tamil Nadu, why don't they use an Indian language instead of English? Why is it that Manmohan Singh addresses the nation using English?

If Hindi is too politically sensitive, then why not Sanskrit? It is shocking that there are only 14,000 Indians who can write Sanskrit.

In China, everybody can write in the same language with which Sun Tzu wrote the Art of War over 2500 years ago. The characters are still the same as they were before.

And yet in another thread, an Indian member was accusing China of giving up our culture! Have you heard Hu Jintao once speaking English in public? I don't think he has spoken English ever, in public or private.

Dont compare China with a country where people can express themselves.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

And I must seek apology from my brothers from South India but to then must go a large part of blame for propagating Hindi Phobia and the resultant continuation of a foreign tongue - a situation utterly shameful for such a large nation with such a rich choice of languages. If you dont like Hindi -- take Sanskrit, but please let us get rid of this pathetic and condemnable situation of using a foreign tongue as the defacto national language.

Mandarin is also a widely-spoken Northern dialect, similar to the position of Hindi in India.

I am from Hong Kong so my native dialect is Cantonese, but I learned Mandarin anyway, even before the handover. Because that is the best way for me to communicate with Chinese people from other regions of China.

Standard Chinese is the "Lingua Franca" of China.

Dont compare China with a country where people can express themselves.

Am I not expressing myself right now?

And don't give me that BS, you guys get arrested for "liking" posts on Facebook. I make risky comments on Facebook all day long and nobody cares.

 

[third eye]

Am I not expressing myself right now?

And don't give me that BS, you guys get arrested for "liking" posts on Facebook. I make risky comments on Facebook all day long and nobody cares.

Elections

Does it ring a bell ?

 

[Anonymous_CryptoSpy]

They are right. India should not have English as their de facto official language.

If the Government of West Bengal wants to communicate with the Government of Tamil Nadu, why don't they use an Indian language instead of English? Why is it that Manmohan Singh addresses the nation using English?

If Hindi is too politically sensitive, then why not Sanskrit? It is shocking that there are only 14,000 Indians who can write Sanskrit.

In China, everybody can write in the same language with which Sun Tzu wrote the Art of War over 2500 years ago. The characters are still the same as they were before.

And yet in another thread, an Indian member was accusing China of giving up our culture! Have you heard Hu Jintao once speaking English in public? I don't think he has spoken English ever, in public or private.

Dear friend,
its really not possible in into dial, there are few languages which are quite interrelated(bengali-assamese,urdu-hindi).perhaps 80 % of the languages in north India have at least 10-15 words which means exectly the same.but south Indian language are at whole new level. the are as alian language to us as chinese or Japanese(I heard tamil have few Sanskrit words,not sure though)

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Elections

Does it ring a bell ?

Yeah, I just helped to elect CY Leung in the recent elections. Read about it.

Anyway your argument is dumb.

America has one language as the official language, so does Britain, Germany, etc. You can learn Spanish at home but when you go to school or deal with the Government, you have to use the official language.

Now don't tell me India is more free than those Western countries, where Dalits can't even walk 10 feet in front of a higher caste person.

The only thing you're telling me is that you prefer a Western language to be India's official language rather than a native one. And a Western leader like European Catholic Sonia, who you did not elect by the way.

 

[Anonymous_CryptoSpy]

even I speak 4 language fluently. no problemos,we adapt according to situations

 

[Omtatsat]

Mandarin is also a widely-spoken Northern dialect, similar to the position of Hindi in India.

I am from Hong Kong so my native dialect is Cantonese, but I learned Mandarin anyway, even before the handover. Because that is the best way for me to communicate with Chinese people from other regions of China.

Standard Chinese is the "Lingua Franca" of China.

China has been fortunate in escaping direct colonial rule while India was not so lucky... The scars from colonialism run deep and the worst part is that the sufferer is now in love with those scars -- a kind of Stockholm syndrome, and will not allow for surgery at any cost. Continuation of English is one such deep scar: