BY ADITYA DHOPATKAR
Regarding the Tamil language statement of Mr. Modi, and the posts on Tamil, as a Savarkarian HindutvaVaadin, this is what I feel should be the national narrative....
1. Whether the earliest language of India is Sanskrit or Tamil, both are MY Hindu languages. So the issue of which is older should be a matter of objective interest and not provincial ego. This can actually bind us together instead of feeding the Dravidianist-Dalitist Breaking India faultline.
2. Tamil is definitely older than my own Marathi. And also older than the current standard Hindi or Gujarati or Assamese.
But Kashmiri is also a very old language. The older the language, the more definitely it gets classical status (abhijaat bhasha अभिजात भाषा). Saying that supports the greatness of Tamil or Kashmiri but does not undermine the greatness of my own Marathi.
Will non-Marathi speakers not acknowledge the greatness of Marathi too?
But Kashmiri is also a very old language. The older the language, the more definitely it gets classical status (abhijaat bhasha अभिजात भाषा). Saying that supports the greatness of Tamil or Kashmiri but does not undermine the greatness of my own Marathi.
Will non-Marathi speakers not acknowledge the greatness of Marathi too?
3. It is believed Tamil was created by Shiva and Agastya. Theistically speaking, all languages are formed through Shiva Mahadeva or Krishna or Sarasvati or Brahma. Also, Sanskrit is the language of the Devas and Devis, the Geervaanabhasha.
Why cannot Northern Hindus be exposed to classical Sangam Tamil literature?
Why cannot Tamil people study Sanskrit, the language of Perumal, Amman, Murugan and Sivan whom they (the Tamilians) worship?
Why cannot Northern Hindus be exposed to classical Sangam Tamil literature?
Why cannot Tamil people study Sanskrit, the language of Perumal, Amman, Murugan and Sivan whom they (the Tamilians) worship?
4. Let the Kashmiri and the Tamilian not quickly understand each other's language; yet they both pray to Shiva. And this Shiva Bhakti defines our Hindu nationalism. Not some Ambedkar Smruti, sorry, constitution.
5. Tamil culture is MY Hindu culture, Tamil glory is not just Tamilian glory but also MY heritage. So is Marathi culture, so is Hindi culture. So is Meitei culture and Chakma culture. We have a common heritage. But I won't accept Urdu culture as Hindu culture, so what if Hindu singers sing Qawwalis and Sufi songs to get rich.
6. Hindi and Tamil may be different language family groups but share a lot in common in structure. Hindi may shares family ties with English in the Indo-European family of languages that are not shared by Tamil, but Hindi and Tamil share family bonds in the Bharateeya Bhasha Parivaar as Subhah Kak Sir has stated, and English does not belong to the Bharateeya Bhasha (whose definite commonalities go beyond just being geographically being one habitat). And I support Shri Kak's assertion.
7. There is a view that Sanskrit was actually created from a bedrock of many other existing languages, which is why Sanskrut has 'Krut'. Am skeptical, but I commit to remain academically open to the thesis. Yet the Apa-Bhramsh Bhasha and Prakruts are still posterior to Sanskrit, cannot be anterior to it.
By that standard, even Hindi was ‘created’ by the bhasha-mandal of the Northern Hindus from the substrate of languages that always existed. Implying, Hindi came much later while Awadhi, Vraj, Bhojpuri, Haryanvi, Maithili, Chhapraiyya, Madhubani, Maru-Gurjari, etc. are the ancient languages. Are the speakers of chaste Hindi ready to accept Awadhi as a pre-Hindi tongue, and accord Awadhi that status? What would the speakers of Khadi Boli (Merath / Meerut / old Hastinapur) say about whether they are the oldest extant dialect of standard Hindi? What would the Madhya Pradesh Hindi speakers say, as MP Hindi is supposed to be sweet, pure and least corrupted with Urdu (Gandhi’s silly syncretic Hindustani)?
Also, for a Marathi person like me, understanding Hindi is far easier than understanding Maithili and Magahi. And understanding Kashmiri and understanding Maithili are equally difficult. I cannot follow Tamil. So, Hindi stays. I vote Hindi.
But even if Tamil is made the national language, one must cheerfully learn it, if we could learn English, as Tamil is all said and done, MY language.
By that standard, even Hindi was ‘created’ by the bhasha-mandal of the Northern Hindus from the substrate of languages that always existed. Implying, Hindi came much later while Awadhi, Vraj, Bhojpuri, Haryanvi, Maithili, Chhapraiyya, Madhubani, Maru-Gurjari, etc. are the ancient languages. Are the speakers of chaste Hindi ready to accept Awadhi as a pre-Hindi tongue, and accord Awadhi that status? What would the speakers of Khadi Boli (Merath / Meerut / old Hastinapur) say about whether they are the oldest extant dialect of standard Hindi? What would the Madhya Pradesh Hindi speakers say, as MP Hindi is supposed to be sweet, pure and least corrupted with Urdu (Gandhi’s silly syncretic Hindustani)?
Also, for a Marathi person like me, understanding Hindi is far easier than understanding Maithili and Magahi. And understanding Kashmiri and understanding Maithili are equally difficult. I cannot follow Tamil. So, Hindi stays. I vote Hindi.
But even if Tamil is made the national language, one must cheerfully learn it, if we could learn English, as Tamil is all said and done, MY language.
8. Thulu or Tulu may be older to Tamil. But that will be opposed by Tamil jingoists. I see Tulu literarily being forgotten. Come on, so many Hindu Vidyaas may be locked in Tulu manuscripts awaiting rediscovery! And I see no initiative from Tulu speakers towards transliterating Tulu scripts, all plans stay trapped within Karnataka government red tape. But then, Tulu has no jingoists while Tamil as a language is full of them, with no fault of the Tamil language but of Tamil language speakers.
9. If Hindus don't watch out, Tamil heritage will be usurped by Christianity - what with fictions from the Church that Thirukkural is supposed to be inspired by Saint Thomas speaking to Thiruvallluvar on Marina beach. Ha Ha Ha! No Saint Thomas came to India. But would Tamil jingoists pay attention to a Hindu topic? Come on, a Tamil jingoist can remain a DMKist jingoist, not credit Tamil to originating from Sanskrit if he politically chooses to, but no Jew is responsible for the deep adhyaatma of the Thirukkural.
10. Whether the national language is Sanskrit, Hindi or Tamil, my inconvenience is less important to nationalism. All Hindu languages are MY languages. But I cannot accept English being made the official national language, though one speaks it flluently.
11. Pali, Ardhamagdhi also deserve attention. They too are classical languages. They were used by Boudhda and Jaina mata people, but there is nothing Vaidik or Jaina or Boudhda about Pali or Ardhamagdhi. Under the Hindu umbrella, Ardhamagdhi is mine, Pali is mine too. And so are Boudhda and Jaina matas. Let Ardhamagdhi and Pali too benefit from a revival. Let Ardhamagdhi and Pali be freed from the clutches of separatist Ambedkarites and Jain separatists and be studied by all. Also, Tibetan is spoken in Ladakh, Lahaul-Spiti (Himachal), Sikkim, Bhutan, Arunachal... and must be studied.
12. The languages of the Andamanese tribals, the Nicobarese tribals, though not literary, are also my own. So also, the languages of the Mizos, Hazongs, Adi Mishmis, Digaru Mishmis, Angame Nagas, Kukis, Garos, Khasis, Jaintias, etc They are also the responsibility of the Indian Union, to be protected and nurtured, not the career of some Christtian missionary. I may not understand any word from them, but that their first book is the Bible and in some Roman-Latin alphabet is just not commendable to Hindu pride. Why not make Shiva Puraan, Ramayan, Krishan Bhajans, Jaina stories, Hitopadesha, Jataka Buddhist tales, Mahabharata and Thirukkural available in North Eastern languages with the Devanagari script? And also their local tribal folklore? So what if the bulk of their speakers are Christianised? They can learn the stories, it will help in deAbrahamisation and DharmaPunarPravesh.
13. Chakmas, Meiteis, etc, actually have their ancient Burmese-like scripts. These languages are also literary. Let more literature bee created there.
14. The refusal to speak any language other than Hindi (and not learn Marathi) by Hindi speakers in Maharashtra or Gujarat, and the refusal to speak any language other than Tamil by Tamil Nadu residing Tamilians are both the same version of linguistic and regional chauvinism. The political opposition to learning Marathi by leaders of migrant Hindi speakers in Maharashtra is utterly anti-national politics. So is the bashing up of Hindi speakers in Maharashtra by MNS, which is still a reaction to the politics of Hindi speakers community leaders fanning hatred in Maharashtra.
With the common Devnagari and the common origin in Sanskrit, there is just no excuse for the political opposition of Hindi speaker community leaders in Maharashtra, to not asking their migrant community members to take up learning Marathi. The ugliest turn to attacking migrants is killing of Hindi speakers in Assam by ULFA and the anti-Northeastern chauvimism in the rest of India. The blame is shared by all.
With the common Devnagari and the common origin in Sanskrit, there is just no excuse for the political opposition of Hindi speaker community leaders in Maharashtra, to not asking their migrant community members to take up learning Marathi. The ugliest turn to attacking migrants is killing of Hindi speakers in Assam by ULFA and the anti-Northeastern chauvimism in the rest of India. The blame is shared by all.
15. Nepali, Hindi are connected by ancient ties. So are Kumaoni and Nepali, Gadhwali and Nepali, Maithili and Nepali. Similarly, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Assamese, Bengali are also united by the same script. Bengali is quite a deep language.
Then, Sanskrit, Hindi, Hindu Sindhi, Marathi, Konkani, Nepali, Pali, Ardhamagdhi are all also united by the Devnagari script. Sinhala, Marathi, standard Dhivehi (Maldives), Bahl dialect of Dhivehi (Minicoy – Southern Lakshadwip), Konkani are all Maharashtri Prakruts. Our unity factors run deep, we just have to recognise them.
Lakshadwip got converted to Islam from a Buddhist identity, but the languages of Minicoy (a Southern island of Lakshdwip archipelago) and Maldives are a Maharashtri prakrut. Sinhala is also a Maharashtri Prakrut. Will the neo-Buddhist Ambedkarites - who speak Marathi - and who support the Buddhists of Sri Lanka, do research into the pre-Islamic status of Dhivehi on the basis of language and Buddhism? Can not the Secular Indian Union sponsor this research?
Then, Sanskrit, Hindi, Hindu Sindhi, Marathi, Konkani, Nepali, Pali, Ardhamagdhi are all also united by the Devnagari script. Sinhala, Marathi, standard Dhivehi (Maldives), Bahl dialect of Dhivehi (Minicoy – Southern Lakshadwip), Konkani are all Maharashtri Prakruts. Our unity factors run deep, we just have to recognise them.
Lakshadwip got converted to Islam from a Buddhist identity, but the languages of Minicoy (a Southern island of Lakshdwip archipelago) and Maldives are a Maharashtri prakrut. Sinhala is also a Maharashtri Prakrut. Will the neo-Buddhist Ambedkarites - who speak Marathi - and who support the Buddhists of Sri Lanka, do research into the pre-Islamic status of Dhivehi on the basis of language and Buddhism? Can not the Secular Indian Union sponsor this research?
16. We ought to weed out Urdu, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, European words from our Hindu languages. They are infiltrators into our collective national mindscape (मनोविश्व / भावविश्व) and will destroy our unity. They indicate colonisation and conquest over us, even mental colonisation. Has not Rajiv Malhotra spoken of non-intertranslatability? We should use Sanskrit words for native languages. Yet, Urdu and English may deserve objective respect. Let English be enjoyed in its Hinduised versions (like in Amar Chitra Katha or before the narration prior to a classical dance recital on Doordarshan or on the boards of Southern Indian temples).
17. The extremism of a linguistic pride can support LTTE (Tamil) or ULFA (Assamese). Beware. No support and zero tolerance to separatism and jingoim, leave alone extremism. No division amongst regional states.
18. According status of being a separate language can make a dialect speaking community demand a new smaller state. Odisha may either grow into greater Odisha (including Bastar, Purulia, Seraikela, Berhampur, etc.) or contract in size with secessionism from Kosali. We need to be watchful. Whenever provincial pride prevails over regional pride, there are careers for Leftists, Maoists and all types of anti-nationals. Wasn't linguistic pride the domains of rightists? We need to rethink labelling, but we need to preserve unity even at regional levels.
Seraiki language is the Southern Punjabi languge of Seraikistan, which has Baloch, Rajputana, Kutchchhi, Punjabi, Sindhi and Gujarati influences. Seraikistanism is a separatist movement within Pakistan, centred on Multan and Bahawalpur.
Well, Seraiki has its own script used by traders. So this too is a case of separatism, but within Pakistan. India should pay attention.
Yes, trader scripts exist too. For accounts. Used by mercantile groups.
Can Sylheti pride be tapped to create instability in Bangladesh by Indian strategistst? The original extent of Bangla Bhoomi is from KarnaSuvarna (Islamic name Murshidabad) to Tripura.
Seraiki language is the Southern Punjabi languge of Seraikistan, which has Baloch, Rajputana, Kutchchhi, Punjabi, Sindhi and Gujarati influences. Seraikistanism is a separatist movement within Pakistan, centred on Multan and Bahawalpur.
Well, Seraiki has its own script used by traders. So this too is a case of separatism, but within Pakistan. India should pay attention.
Yes, trader scripts exist too. For accounts. Used by mercantile groups.
Can Sylheti pride be tapped to create instability in Bangladesh by Indian strategistst? The original extent of Bangla Bhoomi is from KarnaSuvarna (Islamic name Murshidabad) to Tripura.
19. India's diversity in all aspects, including languages is a treasure to be protected and practised. As long as a golden thread of Dharma and Rashtra do not unite Indic language speakers, the unity will keep getting undermined by Marxists. Let us snatch back the initiative and narrative from them.
20. It remains the duty of Hindus of reHinduise scripts of languages like Sindhi or Pashtu or the Baloch languages. Their current status is of an Islamised script and vocabulary interpolating into an Indo-European language.
We need to disconnect language from Chrislam.
We need to disconnect language from Chrislam.
Willl Tamil jingoists invest time to study Brahui, a Dravidian language of the Baloch? That too with deIslamisation and DharmaPunarPravesh in mind, as the अंतस्थ हेतु?
We have the same undecided status of Konkani vis-à-vis Marathi. Flames fanned by the Roman Catholic Church which moots the Roman Script for Konkani.
We also need to revive the Sharada script of Kashmiri. It is part of the strggle against Islamic fundamentalism and this point needs to be discussed a lot.
There is a simillarity os scripts between pre-Arabic Sindhi, Kashmiri (Sharada), Punjabi (Gurumukhi), Tibetan and Seraiki.
We have the same undecided status of Konkani vis-à-vis Marathi. Flames fanned by the Roman Catholic Church which moots the Roman Script for Konkani.
We also need to revive the Sharada script of Kashmiri. It is part of the strggle against Islamic fundamentalism and this point needs to be discussed a lot.
There is a simillarity os scripts between pre-Arabic Sindhi, Kashmiri (Sharada), Punjabi (Gurumukhi), Tibetan and Seraiki.
21. It is also a lesser known fact that Manipur has two official languages - Meitei and Bishnupriya - spoken by the eponymous communities and with both being recognised by the Indian Union. Bishnupriya is an Indo-European language and the easternmost language of the Indo-European family; Meitei is another language family. Its script is similar to that of Assamese and Bangla.
In case of Bangla, Odia, Assamese and Bishnupriya, their phonetic pronunciations and vocabulary are similar.
Let this be known by the jingoists of the speakers of Tamil and Hindi.
Assamese speakers had to struggle to clarify, Assamese was a separate standalone language with its own grammar, script peculiarities and pronunciations, itts own literary evolution and that Assamese was not a dialect of Bangla, and was not spolit Bangla.
But wait. While you sympathise with Assamese, Bishnupriya had to struggle to prove that it wasn't Assamese either (to counter the objection of Assamese speakers who were intent on making Bishnupriya just a dialect of Assamese), while Bishnupriyas were struggling equally to not let Bishnupriya being called a dialect of Bangla, or a part of Bangla either.
But Bishnupriya and Meitei together are part of the
Dr. Koenraad Elst Sir, we had discussed this.
Besides, in the framework of a Bharateeya Bhasha Parivaar, both languages Bishnupriya and Meiteei have Vaishnav vocabulary, with loan word osmosis.
Meitei suffered a Bangla-isation of its script, let the Burmese script of Meitei Manipuri be revived.
Also, there is a provincial similarity between KokBarak (Kokborok), the llanguage of the Tripura tribal communities (named after the Barak river) and Bangla, within the state fo tripura. Bangla is Indo-European, quite ancient, and deeply literary. But Kokborok uses thee Bangle script. R D Burman, S D Burman etc spoke Kokborok as their mother tongue. Can the same model of amity be applied to Meitei-Bishnupriya and Kokborok-Bangla?
In case of Bangla, Odia, Assamese and Bishnupriya, their phonetic pronunciations and vocabulary are similar.
Let this be known by the jingoists of the speakers of Tamil and Hindi.
Assamese speakers had to struggle to clarify, Assamese was a separate standalone language with its own grammar, script peculiarities and pronunciations, itts own literary evolution and that Assamese was not a dialect of Bangla, and was not spolit Bangla.
But wait. While you sympathise with Assamese, Bishnupriya had to struggle to prove that it wasn't Assamese either (to counter the objection of Assamese speakers who were intent on making Bishnupriya just a dialect of Assamese), while Bishnupriyas were struggling equally to not let Bishnupriya being called a dialect of Bangla, or a part of Bangla either.
But Bishnupriya and Meitei together are part of the
Dr. Koenraad Elst Sir, we had discussed this.
Besides, in the framework of a Bharateeya Bhasha Parivaar, both languages Bishnupriya and Meiteei have Vaishnav vocabulary, with loan word osmosis.
Meitei suffered a Bangla-isation of its script, let the Burmese script of Meitei Manipuri be revived.
Also, there is a provincial similarity between KokBarak (Kokborok), the llanguage of the Tripura tribal communities (named after the Barak river) and Bangla, within the state fo tripura. Bangla is Indo-European, quite ancient, and deeply literary. But Kokborok uses thee Bangle script. R D Burman, S D Burman etc spoke Kokborok as their mother tongue. Can the same model of amity be applied to Meitei-Bishnupriya and Kokborok-Bangla?
