In India in 1951, there were around 1,652 languages used as a
mother tongue, with 87% of the country's population of approximately 450 million speaking one of 14 different languages. The most popular was Hindi, spoken by around 30% of India's population.
Jawaharlal Nehruthe prime minister of India at the timeviewed a
lingua franca as necessary due to the diversity of languages. He suggested that the
Hindustani language (Hindi–Urdu) was the best option, as it was easy-to-learn, was already spoken by a plurality of the population, and was thought to forge unity between Hindu and Muslim communitieswhereas English would not be a viable due to the difficulties in educating a foreign language to millions of people. The
Constitution of India, therefore, designated Hindi and English as co-official languages, with the latter being phased out within 15 years. The Constitution of India also states that efforts should be undertaken to promote the use of Hindiwhere the
three-language formula was suggested. In this format, a student's first language would be their own mother tongue, the second language would be Hindi, and the third language would be English. This was described as an educational burden where Hindi speakers would only have to learn two languages, whereas others would have to learn three, or possibly four languages if one's mother tongue was not the state's official language. Nehru also suggested that efforts should be made to simplify the amount of languages spoken by absorbing variants of Hindi into a single language, and creating one
script for
Kannada,
Malayalam,
Tamil and
Telugu. In recent developments, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced a decision to make Hindi compulsory in all eight northeastern states up to Class 10. This decision was communicated during the 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee held in New Delhi. Shah emphasized the importance of Hindi as "the language of India" and advocated for its wider acceptance as an alternative to English, particularly for inter-state communication. According to Shah, the move aims to integrate Hindi more closely into the fabric of national unity. To support this initiative, Shah noted the recruitment of 22,000 Hindi teachers across the northeastern states and highlighted the efforts of nine tribal communities in adopting Devanagari script for their dialects' scripts. However, the proposal has faced staunch opposition in the Northeastern region. Critics argue that the imposition of Hindi undermines the linguistic diversity and cultural identities of the region. They emphasize the importance of preserving and promoting local languages, which hold significant cultural and historical relevance for indigenous communities. This opposition reflects a historical context of linguistic tensions in India, exemplified by events such as the Madras Anti-Hindi Agitation in 1965. Such protests have influenced language policies in the country, highlighting the complexities of language politics and the need for inclusive language policies that respect linguistic diversity. As per Duncan B. Forrester's study on the Madras Anti-Hindi Agitation in 1965, political protests have had significant effects on language policy in India. The agitation brought attention to the importance of considering linguistic diversity and community sentiments in formulating language policies. == Arguments ==