Bengali group writes to CJI Chandrachud on judge’s ‘Hindi national language’ remark
A Bengali nationalist group wrote to the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, and said that the Constitution does not have the term "national language".
Bangla Pokkho, a Bengali nationalist group, wrote to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud over a Supreme Court judge calling Hindi a “national language".
A recent order of the Supreme Court by Justice Dipankar Dutta mentions Hindi as "national language", the Bengali organisation wrote in the letter. Dr Garga Chatterjee, general secretary of Bangla Pokkho, sent a submission to DY Chandrachud, asking for a correction to be made in the Supreme Court order.
Bangla Pokkho contended that the Constitution of India does not have the term "national language", and neither does it accord Hindi any such status.
The submission cited responses from the government in the Lok Sabha as well as a reply by the Union Home Ministry under the Right to Information Act that states that India has no national language and there is no provision to declare Hindi, Tamil, Bengali or any language as a "national language".
The submission appealed to the CJI to take “corrective measures so that the public at large is not misinformed about the Constitution and law by citing the parts of the Supreme Court order.”
Dr Chatterjee said, "The Indian Union was not formed on the basis of any language, unlike the linguistic states which were formed on the basis of language. India is a multilingual, multiracial federal union and calling Hindi a "national language" is in conflict with the Constitution of India as it stands, and makes non-Hindi people second class citizens.”
He alleged that Hindi as the national language is a “myth” that has been propagated by BJP leaders.
Dr Chatterjee added, “Hindi was not, is not, and will never be India's national language. The struggle of Bengalis, Tamils, Marathis, Kannadigas cannot be in vain".
