The Constitution and Language Politics of India

The book The Constitution and Language Politics of India gives a detailed picture of the language controversies that engulfed the country during the first few years of independence, at times threatening the very unity of India. The book attributes the root cause for it, to the Constitution itself which crowned Hindi in language of the Union Government. English, which was the official language till India gained independence was abruptly to give way to Hindi. Some Hindi fanatics were prepared even for bifurcation of the country. The calamity was averted by a 15 years lease given to English in the Constitution, but the problem itself remained. The book gives reasons for the agitation against Hindi which continued unabated till it reached a climax in 1965. An Act of Parliament allowing English to continue as official language even after 1965 pacified the people to some extent. The book quotes a judgement that English is not a foreign language but very much an Indian Language. The crux of the issue, the editor says, is that while Hindi has the support of the Constitution, English continues at the courtesy and pleasure of the Parliament and adds that a permanent solution lies only in suitably amending the Constitution. The book is topical, informative and relevant as the Parliament is likely to discuss some amendments to the Constitution in view of the report already submitted to the Government by the Statute Review Commission. The book is written in an easy readable style which is likely to be of particular interest to politically and linguistically conscious people.