To
The Editor
Hindustan Times,
New Delhi.
The Home Minister’s pointed reference to the problem of linguism and regionalism in the Parliament should be taken very seriously.
Of course history of linguism in India began as far back as 1928 when All Parties Conference under the chairmanship of Moti Lal Nehru recommended the regrouping of the provinces on linguistic basis. The Congress Party repeatedly harped on this time and again and declared itself in its favour in its election manifesto of 1945-46.
However, after the attainment of independence, it was realized that it was not a sound proposal to organise states purely on linguistic basis. But when the Government bowed down to accept the demand for setting up Andhra Pradesh in 1953, it amounted to opening of Pandora’s Box. Even after yielding to similar demands leading to the division of Mumbai into Maharashtra and Gujarat, of Punjab into Haryana and Punjab, there is hardly any peace on this front. In fact, the demands for new states and demarcation of existing states on linguistic basis have become the order of the day.
It is, therefore, high time that the government should realize the inherent danger of this policy it has obviously led to regionalism and antagonism between the different language groups particularly if they are geographical neighbours. This policy alone poses the greatest threat to national integration. The language interests everywhere are creating coteries with extreme divisive potential.
The only way to end this menace and to promote national integration is to organize the country into some zones keeping only the economic and administrative considerations in mind. This will, on the one hand, make the people think in terms of Indianhood and on the other, will lead to better administration, balanced and faster economic development and all round stability Though this step is a bold one, I do hope that our Government will rise to the occasion.
Yours Faithfully
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