Inter-provincial communication and Mahatma Gandhi

[Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav]

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Senior Gandhian Scholar, Professor, Editor and Linguist

Gandhi International Study and Research Institute, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

Contact No. – 09404955338, 09415777229

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Inter-provincial communication and Mahatma Gandhi

 

 

 

Mahatma Gandhi was very serious about inter-provincial communication. He advised to concerning person for it. He thought that English played an important role in it. We must keep our heads even if inter-provincial communication is denied to us. Having got our programme, each province must be able to carry on its own activity. Indeed, it may even be an advantage, for, in the event of communication being cut off, we should be unaffected by reverses in other provinces. Thus, for instance, the Punjab need not be affected by Gujarat weakening and surrendering body and soul to the Government or, say, Assam going stark mad or becoming unexpectedly violent. Let not the reader fear any such possibility, for, Assam is keeping exceptionally sane in spite of grave provocation and Gujarat will give, I hope, a good account of itself in the near future. The Government of Bombay probably knows its business better than others. It has certainly greater forbearance and tact. It is giving the non-co-operators as long a rope as they want. And as the latter do want to be hanged if they do not get what they want, they are taking the longest rope. But that is by the way. Clouds no bigger than a man’s hand have a knack of appearing in the Indian horizon and all of a sudden assuming dangerous dimensions. The point I wish to drive home is that we must prepare ourselves against and for all complications and never be baffled by them, certainly never be taken aback when the expected happens. 1 

If the Congress went on as usual while we passed resolutions in support of Hindi as the common language, our work would be painfully slow. This resolution appeals to the Congress to exclude the use of English as a language of inter-provincial communication. English, it says, should not be allowed to take either the place of the provincial languages or of Hindi. If English had not ousted the languages of the people, the provincial languages would have been wonderfully rich today. If England had adopted French as the language of her national deliberations we should have had no English literature today. French was the language there after the Norman Conquest. But then the tide turned in favour of ‘English-undefiled’. That created the great English literature we know. What Yakub Hussain Saheb said was quite right. The Mussalman contact had a great influence on our culture and civilization, so much so that there were men like the late Pandit Ajodhyanath who were perfect scholars in Persian and Arabic. If they had given to their mother tongue all the time that they gave to the study of Arabic and Persian, the mother tongue would have made great progress. Then English came to occupy the unnatural position it does until this day. University professors can wax eloquent in English but will not be able to express their thoughts in their own mother tongue. Sir C. V. Raman’s researches are all contained in his papers in English. They are a sealed book to those who do not know English. But look at the position in Russia. Even before the Revolution they resolved to have all their textbooks (including scientific) in Russian. That really prepared the way for Lenin’s Revolution. We cannot establish real mass contacts until the Congress decides to have all its deliberations in Hindi and of its provincial organizations in the provincial languages. 2

Now that the English have left the country the national language for inter-provincial communication can only be Hindustani. I have great respect for the English language. But it can never be the national language of India. We do not persevere in learning our two ancient scripts, which only means that we do not have enough patriotism. I will go so far as to say that every Indian should, if possible, learn all the languages of India. One should have a zest for it. There is no harm in this. It will only develop our minds and increase our knowledge. 3

 

References:

 

1. Navajivan, 16-1-1922
2. Harijan, 3-4-1937
3. Dilhiman Gandhiji—II, p. 26