Decline in the use of Indian language words, use of words of foreign languages is a serious challenge, says top decision-making body of RSS.
New Delhi: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has voiced concern over what it says is the “decline in the use of Indian languages”, “the replacement of words with those from foreign languages”, and sought government intervention to “protect” local tongues.
“The decline in the practice and usage of Bharatiya languages, and the elimination of their words and replacement by words of foreign languages, are emerging as a serious challenge,” the RSS said Saturday in a statement issued on day two of the three-day meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS).
The ABPS is the highest decision-making and policy formulation body of the RSS. The second day of the annual meeting also saw Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi elected to his fourth term as ‘sarkaryawah’ or RSS general secretary.
Last year, similar worries about the alleged corruption of Hindi had led RSS affilate Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas, headed by former chief of the RSS’ education wing Vidya Bharati Dinanath Batra, to recommend that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) remove certain English and Urdu/Arabic words, as well as a couplet by Ghalib, from textbooks on the subject. It was responding to an NCERT request for suggestions from the public on reviewing textbooks.
“Today, many languages and dialects have become extinct and several others are endangered,” the RSS said Saturday.
“The ABPS is of the opinion that the governments, other policy-makers and the society, including voluntary organisations, should endeavour to undertake all kinds of efforts to protect and promote various languages and dialects of the country,” it added.
To this end, the Sangh has demanded that primary education be in “the mother tongue or any other Bharatiya language”. “Teaching, study material and the option of appearing in the examinations for higher education in all faculties, including the technical and medical ones, should be available in Bharatiya languages too,” it said.
The RSS described as a “welcome initiative” the conduct of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medicine and Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams “in Bharatiya languages”, adding, “The same option should be available for other entrance tests and competitive examinations still not being conducted in Bharatiya languages.”
The Sangh also called for an end to the “systemic preferential treatment” accorded to English.
“Preference should be given to Bharatiya languages in all governmental and judicial works. Bharatiya languages should be encouraged in governmental and non-governmental appointments, promotions and all kinds of functions instead of giving preference to English,” it added.
“The ABPS is in favour of learning various languages of the world to acquire diverse knowledge,” it said, “But in a multilingual country like Bharat, the ABPS considers it most necessary to protect and promote all the languages of Bharat as the carrier of our culture.”