A noted botanist of Indian origin working in the United States, Kamaljit Bawa, had expressed an important idea — that our identity is also determined by our geography. He had gone on to suggest that given the range of life forms found in India due to a variety of climatic zones, we should see biodiversity as part of our identity. As is only reasonable to expect, the botanist might have been motivated by the need to preserve his turf at any cost, but, at any rate, he has opened up scope for imagination. That we should think of the biodiversity of India as an aspect of our identity is not just perceptive but also a constructive suggestion, at a time when the ruling dispensation in India is hell-bent on beating the country into a homogenous mass professing Hindutva.
Before Hindutva was sprung upon us, there was a linguistic majoritarianism project highlighted by the concerted effort to impose the Hindi language on all of India. And it would be naive to believe that the duo of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, who are prone to addressing this linguistically diverse country in Hindi alone, are the sole champions of this project. The team of Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet colleagues, which runs the Delhi government, has now constituted itself into a suitable B-team.
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Intolerant attitude
In a curious case, the GB Pant Hospital, which comes under the Delhi government, issued a notice on June 5: “A complaint has been received regarding Malayalam language being used for communication in working places in GIPMER. Whereas maximum patient and colleagues do not know this language and feel helpless causing a lot of inconvenience … it is directed to all Nursing Personnel to use only Hindi and English for communication otherwise serious action will be taken.” The notice was soon revoked after it received a nationwide backlash.
It is mind-boggling that language should be the Delhi government’s first concern during a raging pandemic. The entire country watched, with sympathy, how Delhi struggled without the most basic health infrastructure during the violent second wave of infections. It could neither provide adequate oxygen supplies nor prevent the black-marketing of essential drugs. Instead of supporting frontline workers, which includes doctors, nurses and support staff, it chose to shower a section of them with cultural intolerance.
There is a saying in Malayalam that translates to: “Turning on your mother after losing in the bazaar.” Its relevance in this context is direct. On March 31, Kerala, the home of the nurses of GB Pant Hospital, had a COVID-19 case fatality rate that was only a little more than a third of Delhi’s, and a death rate that was less than one fourth by comparison (deaths per population). Perhaps the political leadership of the capital has something to learn.
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Far from being non-compulsory, bedside manner is a necessary qualification for medical workers. It is not negotiable that they should treat their patients with empathy, and language is a part of this human exchange. But it is odd that Malayali-speaking nurses are somehow found deficient in this area in Delhi alone when they have been prized members of the health system in West Asia, Europe and North America for decades now.
Ultimately, it is a failure that Delhi finds itself at odds with a section of its health workers. It can surely learn from the treatment of migrant workers in Kerala. A publicly built housing complex for them in Palakkad is called “Apna Ghar” (our home). There is something hypocritical in accepting a person’s labour but hating their language.
Pulapre Balakrishnan teaches economics at Ashoka University, Sonipat, Haryana
