Why RSS icon MS Golwalkar favoured Hindi as India's official language

India Today

2 days ago

Amidst the raging debate over a perceived imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi-speaking states, critics of the BJP claim that pushing Hindi at the cost of other languages and dialects has been one of the core agendas of the party and its ideological fountainhead, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).A study of the works of Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, aka 'Guruji', reveals that the second sarsanghachalak of the RSS, who was at the helm of the organisation from 1940 to 1973 and had a foundational influence over its ideology, favoured Hindi as India's official language. Golwalkar felt that a Sanskritised version of Hindi should be used till the time Sanskrit, which he described as the 'queen of languages' and one of the 'greatest cementing factors of our national life', became a common language. He was also insistent that English, which he viewed as a relic of India's colonial past, not be a compulsory language in schools.advertisementHindi is central to the Hindutva project of the RSS. As Alok Rai says in his book Hindi Nationalism: 'The process of the making of modem 'Hindi' and the making of 'the Hindu community' are related in complex ways. This is not to suggest that I have found in 'Hindi' the master key to the pan-Indian phenomenon of 'Hindutva' in this century. Still, 'Hindi' offers some valuable insights into the wider phenomenon.'This is evident in the writings of Golwalkar, who was heavily influenced by European ideas of the nation state, which are based on a shared religion, national identity, language and culture.
'As a solution to the problem of lingua franca, till the time Sanskrit takes that place, we shall have to give priority to Hindi on the score of convenience. Naturally we have to prefer that form of Hindi which like all other Bharatiya languages, stems from Sanskrit and gets sustenance from Sanskrit for its future growth in all fields of modern knowledge like science and technology. It does not mean that Hindi is the only national language or that it is the oldest or richest of all our languages. In fact, Tamil is a much richer and older language. But Hindi has come to be the spoken language of a large section of our people and is the easiest of all our languages for learning and speaking,' Golwalkar wrote in his book Bunch of Thoughts (1966).'We have therefore to take Hindi in the interest of national unity and self- respect and not allow ourselves to be swept off our feet by slogans like 'Hindi imperialism' or 'domination of the North', etc Any apprehensions of encroachment for dominance over other languages by Hindi are therefore pure fiction cooked up by interested politicians. In fact, with rise of Hindi, all our sister languages also will flourish. The enemy of all our Bharatiya languages is English,' he said in the book.'In fact, all our languages, whether Tamil or Bengali, Marathi or Punjabi, are our national languages. All these languages and dialects are like so many flowers shedding the same rich fragrance of our national culture. The source of inspiration for all these has been the queen of languages, the language of gods—Sanskrit. By virtue of its richness and sacred association, it also can serve as the common medium of our national intercourse. Nor is it difficult to acquire a working knowledge of Sanskrit. Sanskrit is to this day one of the greatest cementing factors of our national life. But, unfortunately, it is not in common usage now nor do our present rulers possess the moral pride and grit to bring it into vogue,' he wrote.advertisement'There are some who desire that English continue as the 'lingua franca' for all time to come. Language being a living medium of human intercourse, the foreign language English is bound to bring in its English culture and English life patterns. Allowing foreign life patterns to take root here would mean the undermining of our own culture and dharma,' said Golwalkar. He described the use of English as 'just an artificial imposition that accompanied the English domination and as such must be thrown off now that we have become free'.Golwalkar was also critical of Tamil and Dravidian sub-nationalism. 'These days we are hearing much about Tamil. Some protagonists of Tamil claim it is a distinct language altogether with a separate culture of its own. They disclaim faith in the Vedas, saying that Tirukkural is their distinct scripture. Tirukkural is undoubtedly a great scriptural text more than two thousands year old,' said Golwalkar in the book. He, however, extolled Tirukkural as 'purely a Hindu text propounding great Hindu thoughts in a chaste Hindu language'.In an interview to the Organiser in December 1957, Golwalkar was asked if learning four languages—the mother tongue, Hindi, Sanskrit and English—were a too many for students. This is reminiscent of the controversy over the introduction of Hindi as a third language in schools in Maharashtra from Standard I onwards. Golwalkar replied that 'the most dispensable of the four is English. It should not be a compulsory language'.advertisementWhile speaking to reporters in April 1966 in Delhi, Golwalkar was asked if the imposition of Hindi would be detrimental to the oneness of the country. 'Well, if you think that introduction of any one of our languages is detrimental to the interests of the country, do you go to the other corollary that a foreign language is conducive? If that is not so, do we not require a language of our own for communicating our ideas and thoughts, and for mutual intercourse, which will be common to all of us throughout the country? From this point of view, Hindi is the easiest to learn and it is also already spoken and understood in various parts of the country. Therefore, we say that Hindi should be there. There is no question of posing that one language is superior to another,' he replied.In his book We or Our Nationhood Defined (1939), Golwalkar held that there is 'but one language, Sanskrit, of which these many 'languages' are mere offshoots' He added that 'even among the modern languages Hindi is the most commonly understood and used as a medium of expression between persons of different provinces'.advertisement'Thus applying the modern understanding of 'Nation' to our present conditions, the conclusion is unquestionably forced upon us that in this country, Hindusthan, the Hindu Race with its Hindu Religion, Hindu Culture and Hindu Language (the natural family of Sanskrit and her offsprings) complete the Nation concept... All those not belonging to the national i.e. Hindu Race, Religion, Culture and Language, naturally fall out of the pale of real 'National' life,' wrote Golwalkar.However, the postulation of Hindi being the language of a majority of Indians has been dispelled by many, such as author and cultural activist G.N. Devy, who points out that according to the 2011 Census, the country over had 528 million Hindi language speakers. This figure combined 206.1 million people whose mother tongues had been grouped under the Hindi language as its variants. This included Bhojpuri, with over 50.5 million speakers, Chhattisgarhi (16.2 million), Kumauni (2.08 million). So, if these 206.1 million people were subtracted from the number of Hindi speakers, their numbers dropped to just around 320 million. Considering that the Census had a base of 1,210 million, this meant that barely a fourth of the population spoke Hindi.advertisementNilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author and journalist, who has written extensively on the Hindu right, said that the historical backdrop of the launch and growth of the RSS should be accounted for while considering its advocacy of Hindi. The RSS was founded in 1925 in Maharashtra, but towards the late 1930s, was looking at branching out. The Hindi-speaking areas were most easily accessible for the Sangh.'Then, the Indo-Gangetic plains up were witnessing intense linguistic politics over Urdu. The period also saw growing support for the two-nation theory, where Urdu was reduced to being a language of the Muslims, and Hindi that of the Hindus. The RSS found a strong connect between language, religion and culture. This gave rise to slogans of 'Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan', where Hindustan was perceived as the land of the Hindus and not as a poetic imagination,' Mukhopadhyay said.This credo became more rooted post-Independence when debates over the national language were taking place in the Constituent Assembly, and there was an agitation in Tamil Nadu against the imposition of Hindi. It was in that period that the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, predecessor of the present-day BJP, advocated Hindi as the national language.Initially, the Ram Mandir agitation was a north Indian movement, with Hindi being a part of the protests and its vocabulary. But when the BJP was consciously trying to broad-base itself and expand in southern states like Karnataka, it had to step down on its insistence for Hindi. 'The promotion of Hindi remains part of the political instinct of a majority of BJP leaders, who hail from northern and western India,' said Mukhopadhyay.'It is their basic commitment, but it cannot push Hindi beyond a point to fulfil their objective of being a pan-Indian party. Hindi remains part of their idea of a collective nation, the idea that we are one in terms of religion, language and culture. The categories of religion and culture are not segregated in their minds. They see Hindi as the language of Hinduism as a culture, and not a religion,' he explained.'The RSS's 'Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan' ideal draws heavily from the European model of nationalism,' said Abhishek Choudhary, author of a two-volume biography of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. 'The Sangh Parivar opposed the linguistic reorganisation of states both in principle and practice. During the first wave of statehood movements in the early 1950s—the earliest expression of sub-nationalism in independent India—Vajpayee toured the country warning that linguistic states would lead to the fragmentation of the nation. On this issue, Hindu nationalists and conservative elements within the Congress found common ground in their support for promoting Hindi,' said Choudhary.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- EndsTune InMust Watch