Shahabuddin's Letter to the Indian Express, 10 April, 2000

Prof. Seema Alavi has very ably brought out the divisive dimensions of the attempt to impose Hindi as 'the national language'. In fact Hindi is one of the 18 National Languages enumerated in Schedule 8 of the Constitution.

Hindi has, however, the unique status of the Official Language of the Union, alongwith English as the Associate Official Language and, therefore, eventually slated as the link language between the Centre and the State and among the various States, subject to nationwide acceptance.

But Hindi enthusiasts need to take into account the rise in the demand for English all over the country in view of its global reach. So the question will arise as to why English cannot serve a dual purpose - as the link language within India, and as the link language with the outside world.

The Hindi enthusiasts should also look back at their record of deliberate and systematic suppression of minority languages and the absorption of living dialects in the Hindi-speaking region. By making their region 'unilingual', they have sown seeds of fear in the non-Hindi regions.

The question of 'one language' is as divisive for India as the question of 'one religion' or 'one culture'.