(Amendment) Bill, 1963, As Passed by Lok Sabha
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375i Motion regarding [17 DEC. 1963] for Linguistic 3752 Report of Commissioner Minorities (Amendment) Bill, 1963, as passed by Lok MOTION RE REPORT OF COM- Sabha at its sitting held on the 16th MISSIONER FOR LINGUISTIC December, 1963." MINORITIES—continued. Sir, I lay the Bill on the Table. MR. CHAIRMAN: We shall now take up the discussion on the Report of the Commissioner tor Linguistic Minorities. The Minister had completed his speech yesterday. Now any Member desiring to speak can do so. MOTION RE REPORT OF COMMIT- SHRI P. N. SAPRU (UUar Pradesh): Mr. TEE OF PRIVILEGES Chairman, I would like to congratulate the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities on SHRIMATI VIOLET ALVA (Mysore): ■Sir, his Report. It is a comprehensive document I beg to move: and the most valuable parts of the document are the appendices attached to it. I feel that he "That the Filth Report of the Committee has placed before us the constitutional issues of Privileges presented to the Rajya Sabha involved in regard to this question of on the 16th December, 1963, be taken intd linguistic minorities" in a very able manner consideration." and it is unnecessary for me, therefore, to go into the constitutional issues raised by the Sir, in the report that I presented to this existence of these linguistic minorities. I House yesterday, it was stated that the would like to confine my remarks to a few privilege matter involved certain legal issues. points relating to a language which is the I would therefore like to apprise the House of common inheritance of Hindus and Muslim-; the position be'fore asking for longer t|me to Christians and Anglo-Indians have also present the final report. The matter arises out contributed to it. It is an Indian language. It is of statements contained in an affidavit filed in not a foreign language. It is not the language connection with a contempt application of Pakistan. It is a language of India. It grew pending before the Bombay High Court. It has up round about the town of Delhi, and not been possible for us to ascertain as to therefore, it is permissible for us to have some when the application would fee disposed of in enthusiasm and some love for this language, the Bombay High Court and therefore a for this common heritage. Sir, the Rcpmt preliminary i report Was presented and We shows that there are Governments which have asked the House to give us more time to pre- taken a liberal view of their obligations sent the final report. towards this language, I mean Urdu. I would like to mention Andhra Pradesh. I think Kerala has a good record and so has, for that The question was put and the motion was matter, Bihar. But I must confess that I am not adopted. entirely satisfied with the position that this language occupies in my own State of Uttar SHRJCMATI VIOLET ALVA: I move: Pradesh, and the Commissioner in restrained language has drawn attention to some acts of "That the House agrees with the omission on the part of the Government of recommendation contained in the Report", Uttav Pradesh with regard to this language. Sir, one of th« points that I would like to The question was put and the motion was make is this. The Chief Minis- adopted. 3753 Motion regarding [ RAJYA SABHA ] for Linguistic 3754 Report of Commissioner Minorities [Shri P. N. Sapru.] tors' Conference has see any reason why we should not get suggeseted that for recruitment to the acquainted with Greek, or Latin or State Services the lack of knowledge of HeDrew. But Sanskrit, of course, I know Hindi should be no bar and that would play a very great part. According proficiency tests in English and Hindi to the policy followed by the U.P. should be held after the competition is Government, the classical language is to held and during the period of probation. be Sanskrit, unless the parents wish But for one reason or the other, Uttar otherwise. But there is to be no special Pradesh Government has not yet carried arrangement for any other language. If out this recommendation. We are told they want to substitute some other that this recommendation is under the language for Sanskrit, then they must be consideration of the U.P. Government. content with the existing staff. This We do not know how long that period of practically rules out any other language, waiting is to be. and it places Urdu also in a specially [THE DEPUTY CHAIRMAN in the Chair] difficult position. In Azamgarh, this rule has been made compulsory and it works Next I would like to say a few words hardship on those Hindus and Muslims about the three-language formula. This there, because Hindus too would like to three-language formula may be all right, get acquainted with the culture of the though I am one of those who see no Arab world or the Iranian world. It places reason why there should not be a four- the Hindus and Muslims at a language formula. In European countries, disadvantage. students have to acquaint themselves with Latin, Greek, French and German. Most Another recommendation of the Chief of the candidates who reach up to the Ministers' Conference was that there higher secondary stage are acquainted should be provision at the Primary stage with these languages. T do not think it for the teaching of the mother tongue. will be a burden for our students to have The directive on this point was quoted by even four languages. But now let us take Mr. Hajarnavis. The rule suggested by the this three-language formula. The three- States Reorganisation Commission was language formula means that the student that there should be provision for a langu- must know his mother-tongue; he must age other than the regional language or know his regional language, he must Hindi, where there are morc than 40 know a modern Indian language, and he students in a school or 10 students in a must know Hindi. Now, the regional class. In Azamgarh, for example, there is language in UP. is Hindi, and so far as a a sizeable Muslim population and as far modern Indian language is concerned, as I have been able to see, there is not a Sanskrit has also been included among single Urdu teacher. Moreover, the effort the modern Indian languages according to has been to confine the operation of this the d'reclicn of the Director of Education. rule district-wise. There are few districts So far as the Prime Minister is concerned, where Urdu is the language—Moradabad, he stated in a speech which he made some Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, BulandsLahar and time back that Sanskrit would not be in- Rampur. There the position is all right. cluded among modern Indian languages. I But there are other large towns and small am one of those who have got a great towns where there is no provision for any regard for classical languages. I think no Urdu teacher and it is expected that if education can be comolete without a Urdu is to be taught, it will be taught by knowledge of the humanities and one of the teachers already in humanities mean the study of the classics. employment. This practically rules out Sanskrit is not the only classical language Urdu altogether and it places the parents in India. There are other classical of those who want their children to read languages also which have a claim. There Urdu at a disadvantage. Is Persian. There is Arabic, and I do not Recommendations have been made by the Klrpalani Committee that encouragement should be given 3755 Motion regarding [ 17 DEC. 1963 ] for Linguistic 3756 Report of Commissioner Minorities to maqtabs and old institutions like the of Urdu that even those who do not patshala and we should like to know what is understand it appreciate it most. being done m regard to that. Though the Chief SHRI M. RUTHNASWAMY Ministers were not in favour of it, my -view is that the district-wise formula if not quite just (Madras): Even those who speak it badly. to the minorities and I think we should take SHRI P. N. SAPRU: I am not so poetic as the tehsil as the unit and, therefore, provision my hon. friend, Mr. Anwar and poetry and should be made for the teaching of Urdu at the myself are farther from each other. Primary stage in tehsils where there is a size- able proportion of Urdu-speaking population. Another rule which, I think works hardship A suggestion which was made in the Fourth on the Urdu-speaking population is this. For Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic examinations connected with the Uttar minorities was that in order to be able to know Pradesh Civil Service and other combined whether the number forty in a school or ten in examination* —Mr. Nafisul Husan will a class would be forthcoming or ):iot, a correct me if I am wrong—you can answer register should be opened but no step has yet your papers either in English or Hindi. Urdu is been taken to fulfil this requirement. not recognised for that purpose, and not only Therefore, 1 think it would not be incorrect to that, you have to offer Hindi as a compulsory say that Urdu has been receiving a little more subject at that stage. Now, I quite appreciate than stepmotherly treatment and it is not right, that the position of Hindi is somewhat unique it is not just that in a secular State like ours in the sense that it is going to be the link there should be any feeling of discrimination language of the future and those who enter against a language which is the common our services should have a fair knowledge of inheritance of both Hindus and Muslims and Hindi but we used to have in the old days, in Christians and Anglo-Indians.