Voted out of power 14 years ago, the ghost of banning English from Class I still chases the CPM.
Home minister Amit Shah would do well to keep this in mind, as he seems to be sprouting the same logic that the Left had used more than four decades ago, for which generations of Bengali school goers suffered.
Speaking at a book launch in the national capital on Thursday, Shah espoused the native languages saying, “In this country those who speak English will soon feel ashamed – the creation of such a society is not far away. I believe that the languages of our country are the jewels of our culture. Without our languages, we cease to be truly Indian.”
Shah’s big push for the native languages – around 122 major and over 1,500 others according to the 2001 census- has come at a time when the southern states, especially Tamil Nadu has been vocal against the Narendra Modi government’s three language policy.
“I am fully aware of how difficult this battle is, but I am also fully confident that Indian society will win it. Once again, with self-respect, we will run out country in our own language and lead the world too,” Shah said.
Nearly 45 years ago, late Marxist ideologue and Bengal's CPM secretary, Promode Dasgupta made the same arguments to remove English from the primary level over four decades ago. That decision had come at a time when Bengal was learning to live with “load-shedding”, milk crisis and lack of civic amenities.
Dasgupta’s reasons behind dropping English were, a “foreign” language was best learnt at an advanced age and the burden of English was cited as a reason behind the high drop-out rate in the formative years of the Left Front. The cigar smoking Dasgupta believed, English was an instrument of elitism.
The Left Front government toed the party line and banned teaching of English till class VI, citing the Himangshu Bimal Mazumdar Commission set up by the Congress, which had argued that two languages were tortuous and unscientific for students till Class VI.
For years the Left Front defended its decision citing one after the other central commission reports which recommended the same.
The impact of the Left Front government’s decision was manifold. First, came a group of graduates who could not construct an error-free sentence in English. Second, sensing the importance of the “colonial” language, parents in urban areas sent their children to the English medium schools which proliferated.
By the time the LF government tried to rectify, the state-run schools suffered as the teachers themselves, victims of the ban, were found inadequate to teach the pupils.
It took a few more years from the urban middle class and the rural voters to realise the gargantuan error forced by the government. Nearly two decades later under the late Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee English language was back in Class I.
“To understand our country, our culture, our history, and our religion, no foreign language can suffice. The idea of a complete India cannot be imagined through half-baked foreign languages,” Shah said on Thursday.
How Shah proposes to push English out of the classrooms is not yet clear.
“English is a bridge, not a dam. English is power, not shameful. English is a tool to break the shackles, not a chain. BJP-RSS do not want the poor of India to learn English, because they do not want you to ask questions, move forward and become equals,” said Rahul Gandhi, leader of Opposition. “In today’s world English is as important as your mother tongue, because it will give you confidence, employment.”
Rahul added: “Every Indian language has a soul, a culture and knowledge. We have to bring them together and also teach English to every child. That is the road to build an India which can challenge the world, where each child gets the opportunity to be treated as an equal.”
"In India, 97% of people use one of the 22 constitutionally recognised languages as their mother tongue......This is the 'Unity in Diversity' of our great nation. Amit Shah, PM Modi and gang will never understand this," said Trinamool Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien, in response to home minister Amit Shah's remarks.