Training, in Hindi
The report, “AYUSH training in Hindi ignores T.N. group” (Page 1, August 22), left me shocked. Even if the Secretary of the Union Ministry of AYUSH alleges that the video of his comments was “manipulated” and that his address was disrupted by “hooligans”, one would like to know whether he is the Secretary of the AYUSH Ministry for the country or for Hindi-speaking States. As this was a three-day programme, care should have been paid to ensuring that all participants were comfortable with the mode of instruction. The organisers should have recognised that there were participants from across India. Was it so difficult in arranging for translation services?
AYUSH stands for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy and I would like to remind the Secretary about the recent remarks made by a Bench of the Madras High Court while referring to the Centre’s alleged discrimination against Siddha. While expressing dismay over meagre fund allotment for the research and development of Siddha, the judges, while directing the Assistant Solicitor-General of India for the High Court to find out the reason, said, “If this is the case, then the government can remove the letter ‘S’ from AYUSH and rename the department as Ayurveda department.”
S. Chandrasekaran,
Chennai
The Ministry has a right to choose the language of instruction and invite the delegates of its choice for its training programmes. But the alleged manner in which participants from non-Hindi States were treated was in bad taste. Officials should know that there are large sections who are not very conversant in Hindi nor is there a need to know the language in daily life. The privileged space for a select language in the Indian Union will create needless tensions. Central agencies ought to be more sensitive to the needs of the vast number of citizens who merit an unbiased playing field.
H.N. Ramakrishna,
Bengaluru
The official’s alleged statement is more akin to linguistic imperialism and adds insult to injury. It is in gross violation of the constitutional provision that English may continue as an associate link language in India as long as non-Hindi speaking people want it. Languages must be windows and not walls.
K. Chellappan,
Chennai
What has happened at the AYUSH meet was unfortunate. However, it is better to understand the ground realities and be practical. One cannot deny the fact that Hindi has made inroads on a larger scale over the years in the country. Hindi is being taught and spoken even in States where the mother tongue is different. There was never a cry of local language being sidelined in those States. I lived in Mumbai for close to 40 years and the language spoken is mainly Hindi. In offices, buses and trains, people normally converse in Hindi. The Maharashtrians though proud of their language, have magnanimously adopted to the situation well in the overall interest of easy communication. It has in no way diminished the importance of the local language and they continue to be proud of their ‘Marathi Manoos’ heritage. In Tamil Nadu, Hindi is opposed with a fallacious thinking that it would endanger the existence of the local language. But the truth is that English has already taken a predominant role in the State for many decades and parents prefer to send their children to convents. The protoganists of Tamil are well aware of this situation but keep quiet since they also send their children to English medium schools. Learning an additional language has got its own benefits. If someone desires to learn an additional language, politicians have no right to say otherwise. The politicians are requested not to tinker with the future of children by playing politics on the language issue.
V. Subramanian,
Mumbai
In a national-level training programme, the trainer or key resource person should have conveyed the information in a language such as English which would have made all participants comfortable. India is multilingual country and one should not expect one and all to be proficient in Hindi. What if the key person had been from Tamil Nadu and had decided to speak only in Tamil. What would the Hindi-speaking participants have done?
P. Bharath Varun,
Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu
The language faultlines have erupted again, and in a predictable fashion between Tamil Nadu and the rest of India, with no end in sight. The education policy in many northern States has been exclusively a single language formula of teaching only Hindi to its common residents. This shortsightedness, based on sheer political heft and population numbers, has divided our nation in some form or the other. Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, the Dravidian parties and offshoots continue to advocate the narrow-minded policy of “No Hindi” as a wedge issue for political gain. This has made Tamil aspirants permanent outliers in the fields of education and employment nationwide. The losers of the “Hindi only” policy of the North and the “No Hindi” policy of Tamil Nadu are the common people.
G. Parameswaran,
Coimbatore
Saving the elephant
There is no doubt that growing human-elephant conflict is cause for concern. In this connection it is worth following the new guidelines released (“Forest Ministry releases guide to managing human-elephant conflict”, August 13). As the publication says, if water and food are available within forests, the movement of elephants into human habitation could be restricted. Many a time we come across reports of elephants being electrocuted in south India. Perhaps there needs to be better awareness in this part of India of practices such as “use of chili smoke in north Bengal and playing the sound of bees or carnivores in Assam”. Sustained action is needed.
V. Dharmalingam,
Gudalur, The Nilgiris
Tests and quarantine
Something is not alright at Chennai airport. We landed in Chennai at 6 p.m. on August 19 from Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, on a ‘Vande Bharath’ repatriation flight. Most of us had taken a PCR test 72 hours before our arrival in Chennai and had also gone through the Rapid test in Dubai in order to get a ‘Fit to fly stamp’ affixed on the passport. Despite all these, we were forced to undergo a COVID-19 test at Chennai airport and the officials “advised us” that we would have to stay in a hotel. They added that it would be for 48 hours and that if the results were negative we could check out. There are 22 of us staying in a hotel in the heart of the city. When we asked the hotel representatives for details, we were told that Saturday and Sunday were holidays and that the reports could be expected late on Monday. There does not seem to be any logic in this and appears to be some sort of understanding between the officials and the hospitality industry. Why are medical tests done in a foreign country, especially a leading nation, not recognised?
Rajesh B.,
Camp: Chennai
