Question 4: How did the Constituent Assembly seek to resolve the language controversy?
Answer:
India is very big country. It has many different regions. Different varieties of people live here and speak different languages. So for a new nation like India it was necessary to give proper attention to the intricacies of different languages. Hindustani: Hindustani was a choice for the Congress and Mahatma Gandhi. Congress had already decided to adopt Hindustani as the national language of the country. Mahatma Gandhi was also in favour of adopting Hindustani as the national language and supported strongly for this view. He argued that everyone should speak in a language which is understood by most of the common people. Hindustani was not a new language. It was a blend of Hindi and Urdu. It was enriched by the interaction of diverse cultures and spoken by most of the people of the country.
Hindi: R.V. Dhulekar pleaded in favour of Hindi for adopting it as the national language. He came from the United Province and a Congressman. He wanted that Hindi should be used as language of constitution-making . He even said that those who did not know Hindustani were not worthy to be the members of the Constituent Assembly.
Report of the Language Committee: The language Committee of the Constituent Assembly suggested a compromise formula in its report. It suggested that Hindi in Devnagri script should be the official language of the country and tried to resolve the issue. It also suggested that transition from English to Hindi should be gradual. It was also suggested that during first fifteen years since adoption of the Constitution, English would continue to serve as for official purposes. So it was clear that the Language Committee referred Hindi as the official language not the national language. Threat to South: The members of the Constituent Assembly who belonged to the Southern India were apprehensive of the view. They felt that Hindi would be a threat to their provincial languages. Shankar Rao from Bombay . T.A. Ramalingam Chettiar and Mrs. G. Durgabai of Madras suggested that issue of language required utmost care and needed to be handled efficiently and dextrally. Hindi should not be thrust upon the people of South India.
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