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Linguists warn of language riots in Rajasthan

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, APRIL 19. A section of linguists, authors, academicians and social activists have joined hands here to oppose a resolution adopted in the Rajasthan Assembly during the previous Congress regime calling for inclusion of Rajasthani language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, with the warning that it may lead to language riots. The agitation has assumed significance because of its timing before the Lok Sabha elections. It is led by the former Assembly Speaker, Giriraj Prasad Tiwari, and supported by several organisations, including Arya Samaj, under the banner of the Rajasthani Bhasha Sankalp Virodhi Samiti.

The linguists have contended that the Rajasthani language cannot be defined explicitly as it comprises a large number of dialects spoken in different regions of the State. "Under the garb of Rajasthani language, certain elements are conspiring to impose Marwari dialect of western Rajasthan on the entire State,'' Mr. Tiwari told reporters after a State-level convention on the issue here on Sunday.

The Samiti points out that the imposition of the so-called Rajasthani language would weaken the status of Hindi as the national language and create resentment among the people speaking the dialects such as Brijbhasha, Malwi, Dhundhari, Mewari, Hadoti, Wagdi and Shekhawati. "This may pave the way for disintegration of Rajasthan and lead to large-scale linguistic riots,'' Satyavrat Samvedi, a prominent Arya Samaj leader, said.

Mr. Samvedi said there could be no uniformity in the Rajasthani language as each region had its distinct dialect. "In fact, Hindi is the unifying bond among all of us,'' he said.

Mr. Tiwari accused the then Ashok Gehlot Government of pushing through the resolution in the last session of the Assembly in August 2003 without following the procedure and without any debate. "Making a recommendation to the Centre to include Rajasthani in the Eighth Schedule was a major step and it should have gone through the proper procedure,'' he said.

The Samiti leaders, while claiming that there was a conspiracy to get Marwari recognised as the State language, pointed out that the former ruler of Jodhpur, Gaj Singh, had issued a public appeal ahead of the 2001 census asking people to mention Rajasthani as their mother tongue. "Getting the constitutional recognition for Rajasthani will lead to Marwari gaining priority over all other dialects. Those speaking Marwari would have an advantage over others in education, competitive examinations and employment,'' Surendra Upadhyay, former Head of the Hindi Department in Rajasthan University, said.

The Samiti intends to make the resolution on Rajasthani a major issue in the election campaign and would call upon all the candidates seeking votes in various constituencies to make a promise to get the resolution withdrawn. It will shortly get itself registered as the Hindi Raksha Nyas (Hindi Protection Trust). Prominent among others who have joined the agitation are the Nationalist Congress Party's State unit president, Sriram Gotewala; former judges of the Rajasthan High Court, D.L. Mehta and S.N. Bhargava; the noted Sanskrit scholar, Kalanath Shastri; and the former Vice-Chancellor of Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer, P.L. Chaturvedi.

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