History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c96.s2.24

v7.c96.s2.24

The Constitution in its 8th Schedule recognizes fourteen languages as the national languages of India, while Article 343 (1) makes Hindi the official language of the Union, but sub-article 2 (of Article 343) provides that English will continue to be used for all official purposes for fifteen years and sub-article 3 provides that Parliament may continue even after 1965 the use of English for purposes specified by Parliament. Even such a small country as Switzerland has three official languages. The Constitution should have provided at least two Official languages for north India and two for South India, when even in 1950 the population of India was about 36 crores. This sweeping decision to make Hindi the only official language instead of helping emotional integration of Indians produced great strife An official language is not the only means of emotional integration, nor even the chief one. The Govt. should begin with the children in the schools, should instil into their minds the fundamental cultural Unity of India, and that India has been looked upon as one by all foreign invaders, steps should be taken to make every Indian feel that he is the inheritor of the vast ancient wisdom and spiritual culture of India, that he must contribute to the conservation of that culture, and must add to its greatness in the future, and free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14 should have been achieved in ten years as foreshadowed in Art 45.