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The Hindu
18 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Defending land, not pushing divisive agenda: Assam CM counters Mamata
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Saturday (July 19, 2025), countered his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee's charge that the 'divisive agenda' of his Bharatiya Janata Party-led government has crossed all limits. He said that the indigenous Hindus in several districts of Assam were on the verge of becoming a minority and that his government was not targeting its own people but resisting the unchecked infiltration of Muslims from across the (Bangladesh) border, causing a demographic shift. Mamata Banerjee only concerned about Bengali-speaking Muslims: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma 'This is not a political narrative—it's a reality. Even the Supreme Court of India has termed such infiltration as external aggression. And yet, when we rise to defend our land, culture, and identity, you choose to politicise it,' the Chief Minister posted on X in response to Ms. Banerjee's accusation. 'We do not divide people by language or religion. Assamese, Bangla, Bodo, Hindi—all languages and communities have coexisted here. But no civilisation can survive if it refuses to protect its borders and its cultural foundation,' he wrote. The West Bengal Chief Minister has been critical of Mr. Sarma since the Assam government launched an eviction drive across the State in June. Most of those evicted from various categories of government lands, including reserve forests, were Muslims with roots in present-day Bangladesh. Ms. Banerjee also slammed Mr. Sarma for stating during the eviction drive that people mentioning Bengali as their mother tongue would help the government quantify 'foreigners' living in Assam. He said this after Mainuddin Ali, a minority student leader, stated that Bengal-origin Muslims would write Bengali, and not Assamese, as their mother tongue in Census papers to reduce the Assamese speakers to a minority. Hitting back at Ms. Banerjee, the Assam Chief Minister said she compromised West Bengal's future by encouraging encroachment by a particular religious community as 'appeasement' for votes and ignoring infiltration 'just to stay in power'. He asserted that Assam, unlike West Bengal, was acting decisively to preserve the identity of its people. 'Assam will continue to fight to preserve its heritage, dignity, and people, with courage and constitutional clarity,' he said. In her post on X, Ms. Banerjee stated that the people of Assam would resist the BJP's divisive agenda. 'The second-most spoken language in the country, Bangla, is also the second-most spoken language of Assam. To threaten citizens, who want to coexist peacefully, respecting all languages and religions, with persecution for upholding their own mother tongue is discriminatory and unconstitutional,' she said. 'I stand with every fearless citizen who is fighting for the dignity of their language and identity, and their democratic rights,' she further wrote.
Scroll.in
5 days ago
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Hindi's Hindutva problem that supporters are not ready to reckon with
The controversy in Maharashtra over the imposition of Hindi has once again brought the language to the centre of a national debate. In April, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Maharashtra government issued an order making Hindi a compulsory third language in schools. The move faced fierce opposition and criticism from the parties led by cousins Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray, following which it was swiftly rolled back in June. But the episode has stirred discomfort beyond Maharashtra, particularly in the so-called Hindi heartland. On social media, many self-identified Hindi-speakers expressed anger, not only at the rejection of Hindi in the classroom, but at reports that individuals in Mumbai had been physically assaulted for speaking Hindi, accused of ignoring Marathi. This has triggered the familiar argument: no one should be forced to speak a language nor prevented from speaking one. Yet those voicing this sentiment are often silent when Hindi is imposed elsewhere – through state policy, bureaucracy, or cultural dominance. They regard Hindi as a necessary, if bitter, medicine – one that will supposedly integrate the 'non-Hindi' Indian into the national mainstream. At the same time, many of these voices oppose Karnataka's directive that all schools, including central boards, like the Central Board for Secondary Education, introduce Kannada. Why should Hindi be compulsory in non-Hindi regions but not Kannada in Karnataka? If Hindi is necessary to thrive in India, why is Kannada not essential for life in Bengaluru? It is important to be clear here: those who attack others for not speaking Marathi are not defenders of the language. They are agents of a majoritarian politics in which Marathi is merely a pretext. The same, in truth, applies to the loudest champions of Hindi. Their allegiance is not to a literary tradition or linguistic richness but a political project: Hindi becomes a vehicle, not a value. In Tamil Nadu, no one is stopping anyone from learning Hindi, but imposition is wrong. If you want to impose Hindi in Tamil Nadu, then let's impose Tamil in Uttar Pradesh: @dharanisalem, Spokesperson, DMK #PawanKalyan #Super6 #HindiLanguage #LanguageRow | @akshita_n — IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) July 14, 2025 When violence is enacted in the name of language, the issue ceases to be linguistic. It becomes a matter of power, of asserting dominance over communities that are seen as outsiders. Especially when such violence is collective and organised, language becomes a stand-in for territorial control and cultural assertion. Some Hindi speakers protest: 'We have never forced our language on anyone.' But this selective memory erases the lived reality of non-Hindi speakers in cities like Delhi, Patna, or Varanasi – Tamils, Malayalis, Manipuris – who have acquired functional, even fluent, Hindi through daily life, not coercion. Their children learn it in school. But must the same logic apply in reverse? Should residents of Tamil Nadu or Karnataka be expected to mirror this? The claim that Hindi makes one 'more Indian' is deeply flawed. Does speaking or knowing Hindi confer a deeper Indianness? Are Hindi speakers more Indian than those who speak Tamil, Assamese, or Bengali? The myth of Hindi as India's unifying language has long been dismantled. Today, for better or worse, English functions as the lingua franca across universities, courts, corporations and bureaucracies. Not knowing Hindi is not a barrier to participating in public life. Those who insist otherwise are rarely asked: in what way is Hindi essential? Supporters of Hindi often express surprise at the resistance the language faces in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu or Karnataka. Why, they ask, should people oppose Hindi so vehemently? Why should they – the Hindiwalas – be expected to learn regional languages? Many even dream of a future where every Indian learns Hindi, so that they can relate to the Hindi speaker. A recent video showed a bank employee in Bengaluru declaring that she would speak only in Hindi with a customer. Where once public-facing professionals – doctors, clerks, shopkeepers – learned the local language, today there is defiance: 'We will not speak Kannada. You must speak our Hindi.' Viral video shows a bank manager in Karnataka refusing to speak Kannada, insisting on Hindi: 'I will not speak Kannada for you.' The incident has sparked outrage, drawing sharp criticism from Kannada activists and political leaders. — Mojo Story (@themojostory) May 22, 2025 What lies behind this entitlement? Do Hindi speakers believe they own the country by sheer force of numbers? Do they see their claim on the republic as more legitimate than that of others? Is Delhi the centre and the rest of India their fiefdom? Is that why they feel no obligation to learn Marathi in Mumbai, while expecting Mumbaikars to speak Hindi? Why is that even in Mumbai, the city of Hindi cinema, there is resistance to Hindi? Because the spread of Hindi is not organic. It travels not by affection, but by state sponsorship: through official mandates, public funds and policy incentives. It is buoyed by the demographic muscle it enjoys in Parliament and bureaucracy. No other Indian language enjoys the same institutional backing. In Indian embassies, officers are assigned to promote Hindi. Government recruitment prioritises Hindi translators over others. Official communication defaults to Hindi even in places and institutions where it is unnecessary. They see massive funds being allocated for Hindi to be made a language of the United Nations Organisation. Speakers of Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam see this and understand the politics behind it. They, too, are citizens of this republic. They, too, are entitled to cultural dignity and state resources. But Hindi gets a differential treatment by the Union government, privileged over others. Why must one learn Hindi? Is it a repository of global knowledge? A gateway to world literature? Would a Tamil speaker feel drawn to Hindi for these reasons? The answer is no. Nor is Hindi a bridge to the country's many languages. Translation initiatives, by Sahitya Akademi, National Book Trust, remain sparse and focused mostly on creative literature. Most of these works are already more widely accessible in English. Once again, Hindi appears optional, not essential. It is unfortunate that the BJP continues to feed the illusion that Hindi is now receiving its rightful place through measures like introducing it as a medium of medical or engineering education. These initiatives were announced with fanfare and quietly abandoned when students rejected them. Yet, the party continues to boast of these policies, misleading Hindi speakers and offering them a false sense of linguistic pride. They live in a bubble of self-deception. Today, Hindi's most potent function is not literary or cultural but political. That explains the opposition to it. The Hindiwalas often say that it is the politicians of these non-Hindi states who oppose Hindi whereas the people are learning it. That is exactly the point. There is no opposition to Hindi as a language but Hindi as the vehicle of North India-centric majoritarian politics. Hindi is vital to the project of Hindutva. One must ask why the ideologues of Hindutva, most of them from Maharashtra, choose Hindi as their language of power? The answer is not cultural, but demographic. The Hindi belt is the largest reservoir of the imagined Hindi/Hindu majority. Here, Hindutva manufactures its strength of numbers. How is this number fabricated? Those who identify Hindi as their mother tongue are often either Bhojpuri or Maithili or Bajjika speakers. Hindi is not their first language. But they are counted as Hindi speakers which helps swell the number of Hindi speakers. Those who remember Partition can recall how Urdu speakers entered Hindi as their mother tongue. The battle for Hindi and against Urdu was fought in the medium of Urdu. This was to inflate the numbers of the Hindi speakers. In this sense, Hindi is not a language but an instrument of majoritarian politics. Three years ago, a Bengali friend from Jabalpur told me of an interesting event. A senior leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh – himself a Bengali – addressed a gathering of Bengalis in Hindi in a bold, even insolent, gesture. His reasoning: Bengalis, he claimed, originally migrated from Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, so Hindi is their true tongue. They must adopt and own it as their language, he insisted. This is the logic behind the RSS slogan in Bengal: 'No Durga, No Kali; Only Ram and Bajrangbali.' To replace Durga with Ram is to overwrite Bengali cultural identity with a north India-centric Hindi-ised Hindutva identity. Similarly, the elevation of the deity Vamana over Bali in Kerala represents an effort to impose a Sanskritic, North Indian order on Dravidian memory and Malayalam culture. Let there be no ambiguity about the project of this political Hindi: the Hindi promoted today is not the Hindi of Gandhi, writers and poets like Premchand, Mahadevi Verma, Muktibodh, Agyeya or Omprakash Valmiki. It is not the syncretic Hindi that embraced Urdu. What is seen today is a purified, Sanskritised and sanitised version, purged of 'foreign' words, molded into a Hindu tongue. This is a resentful, weaponised Hindi, the Hindi of Hindutva. That is why political scientist Suhas Palshikar warns that leaders like Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray, if they continue their dalliance with Hindutva, will soon find themselves ensnared by this Hindi. Hindutva and Hindi are no longer separable. Why else would Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis advocate Hindi, or Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan champion it in the Telugu state? The answer is clear: both are emissaries of Hindutva's politics and Hindi is now its standard. Hindi speakers, too, must confront this uncomfortable truth. For their own sake, and for the sake of Hindi, they must begin the difficult task of disentangling their language from the ideology that now speaks in its name. The sooner this happens, the better. For Hindi. And for the republic.
Scroll.in
6 days ago
- Politics
- Scroll.in
J&K: Omar Abdullah scales fence to reach Martyrs' cemetery after being stopped by police
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday scaled the fence of Srinagar's Martyrs' cemetery to pay tributes to the 22 civilians who were shot dead by the forces of Dogra ruler Hari Singh in 1931. This came a day after the police confined political leaders, including the chief minister, inside their homes to prevent them from visiting the cemetery on the Kashmir Martyrs' Day. July 13 is marked as Martyrs' Day to honour the 22 civilians. It was dropped as a public holiday after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government in August 2019 abrogated Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. On Monday, Abdullah alleged that the restrictions on Sunday were imposed on the ' clear instructions ' of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, reported The Indian Express. 'The unelected nominees of New Delhi locked up the elected representatives of the people of J&K,' he had earlier posted on social media. Speaking to reporters, Abdullah claimed that when he had informed the police control room on Sunday that he wanted to visit the cemetery, security personnel surrounded his Gupkar residence with concertina wire 'within minutes' and the blockade stayed in place till midnight. 'Today [Monday]...without saying anything to them, I sat in the vehicle and…even today they tried to stop us,' The Indian Express quoted him as saying. 'They tried to scuffle with us. These policemen sometimes forget the law.' This is the physical grappling I was subjected to but I am made of sterner stuff & was not to be stopped. I was doing nothing unlawful or illegal. In fact these 'protectors of the law' need to explain under what law they were trying to stop us from offering Fatiha — Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) July 14, 2025 The chief minister added that the lieutenant governor and security agencies had misunderstood the significance of July 13. 'They think their graves are here only on July 13,' the newspaper quoted him as saying. 'How long will they stop us, if it is not 13, it is 14. Whenever we want to come, we will come to remember these martyrs.' The chief minister was accompanied by his father and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and other party leaders. Several regional parties in the Union Territory have been demanding the resumption of the official ceremony to commemorate July 13 as Martyrs' Day. Leaders had also submitted applications to the deputy commissioner for permission, which were denied, The Hindu reported. On Saturday, the police warned that action would be taken against those heading to the shrine of Naqsband Sahib in Srinagar, where the 22 civilians are buried. Security forces also barricaded the shrine and the roads leading to it.
Time of India
13-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Development Projects In Odisha: Odisha CM Majhi Meets PM Modi to Discuss State Development and Centre-State Coordination, ET Infra
Advt Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday in the national capital and discussed the ongoing developmental activities, future strategies, and coordination between the centre and the state."Today, I had the privilege of meeting the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I am grateful for his inspiration and unwavering support for Odisha's development," the Odisha CM posted on the commitment between the Centre and the state to working for a "prosperous Odisha," the CM's post added, "On this occasion, important discussions were held regarding various developmental activities in Odisha, future strategies, coordination between the Centre and the State, and accelerating the state's overall progress. The Centre and the State are committed to working together to achieve the goal of a prosperous Odisha and a developed India."Earlier on June 20, on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Odisha, Chief Minister Majhi commended Prime Minister Modi's leadership and highlighted contributions to the state's development."In January, PM Modi urged the investors to participate in the Utkarsh Odisha 2025 conclave. We received proposals worth Rs 17 lakh crores in just two days, which is a record. This happened because the investors trusted you. We are working to make Odisha the industrial hub of eastern India," he Modi also visited Odisha's Bhubaneswar on that day as he inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for multiple development projects worth over Rs 18,600 crore, covering critical sectors, including drinking water, irrigation, agricultural infrastructure, health infrastructure, rural roads and bridges, sections of national highways, and a new railway will also release the Odisha Vision Document , which is anchored around the landmark years of 2036 (when Odisha completes 100 years as India's first linguistic state) and 2047 (when India celebrates 100 years of independence).Odisha has set an ambitious target to become a $500 billion economy by 2036 and $1.5 trillion by 2047.
Time of India
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Schools shutting, liquor shops coming up in state: Akhilesh
Varanasi: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav took a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led govt in Uttar Pradesh saying the state was opening of new liquor shops in large numbers, while schools were being closed. Addressing party workers after inaugurating his new home-cum-office built on a campus of over 3 bigha area in the Anwarganj area of Azamgarh district on Thursday, Akhilesh criticised BJP govt for "poor state of education and basic facilities". He said BJP was shutting down booths in assembly areas where they lost in the 2022 assembly election. "It is shocking how thousands of schools are being closed while liquor stores are being opened without restraint," he said. Akhilesh added, "Water tanks built in villages under Jal Jeevan Mission are unable to bear burden of corruption, leading to incidents of tank bursts in various districts every month." He compared the Purvanchal Expressway with the Gorakhpur Link Expressway and termed the six-lane roads built during his regime as superior. He also accused BJP of double standards in reservation and secularism. To ensure his party got voted to power in 2027, Akhilesh set goal for party leaders and cadres to secure all seats from Ghaziabad to Sonbhadra for PDA. Akhilesh said if voted to power in UP in 2027, he would ensure every family received 300 units free electricity, iPads and Samajwadi pension of Rs 3,000 for women. He also assured termination of Central govt's Agniveer scheme and strengthening of border security. The meeting was not free of drama by over-enthused SP supporters. One worker jumped into the 'D' security circle in front of the main dais and when he did not leave despite repeated requests from senior leaders, party volunteers and police ousted him. Responding to call of a Brahmin organisation and Vishwa Hindu Mahasabha, many Brahmin families installed black flags at their homes to express their anger against the alleged anti-Brahmin statement of Akhilesh following the Etawah incident.
