Anti-Hindi agitation set the stage for the IT revolution in India

One of the most commonly misunderstood topics among Indians is the Anti-Hindi agitation in the state of Tamil Nadu during the years 1938, 1948 and 1965. Most non-Tamilians I have come across view this as a jingoistic movement by Tamil supremacists who resented conformity to the standards accepted by the rest of the nation. While it is possible that there were such elements among those who participated in this movement, as far as tbe overall goals of the movement itself are concerned, this cannot be further from the truth.
The movement has had remarkable impact on the lives of billions of people in India and probably the world. Some of these consequences were neither intended nor acknowledged let alone attributed to this movement. Let us look at the most obvious consequences of the agitation.
1. DMK, which lead the protest, went on to capture power in the subsequent elections in Tamil Nadu in 1967 and along with other parties that were formed by former members of DMK, it still dominates the political landscape in Tamil Nadu. Many of the original demands of the anti-Hindi agitation form the framework of the policies of today's Tamil Nadu polical parties and they still evoke strong support from the Tamil public.
2. The spread of Hindi language among people of Tamil Nadu became restrained leading to difficulties for people from non-Tamil speaking states visiting Tamil Nadu and vice-versa.
3. It abetted the spread of language movements among people of other states.
4. It sheilded Tamil entertainment industry from the dominance of Bollywood, leading to a vibrant, technically competent local market catering to Tamil speaking people across the globe.
However there are other more far reaching consequences. As a result of the agitation, the Indian government decided to keep both Hindi and English as the official languages of the country instead of Hindi alone.
1. This meant that government jobs (pretty much the only kind of jobs available to most Indians until the 90's) were not dominated by Native Hindi speakers.
2. This meant that the separationist movement in Tamil Nadu lost steam, improving stability and security in South Asia.
3. This meant that learning English, the language that was forced upon Indians by former colonists, still had relevance to millions of children attending schools in an independent India.
4. India without English would have been akin to current day China without its manufacturing industry. The mighty service sector in India which includes IT industry, BPOs, etc, owes its presense to the vast English-speaking graduates of India. Is it a coincidence that the service sector is primarily located in South India where there are fewer native-Hindi speaking people? I think not.
Even the other sectors such as Agriculture, Textile and Manufacturing have benefitted from the easy access to vast knowledge potentials around the world (which are primarily in English) and the demand generated by English speaking workers.
Hence, rather than lamenting the absense of a single language that can be understood in every corner of the country, Indians should embrace the diversity and differences of various sub-cultures within the country.
My appeal to non-Tamil speaking people is as follows. Dont mistake a Tamilian's incomprehension of the Hindi language to antagonism. They haven't learnt the language because they did not have to and not because they hate the language.

Another Cartoon - Same Controversy

It has been three years since my last post. But certain things remain the same in the world. This time the cartoon is ostensibly about the economic stimulus plan, but makes, somewhat slyly, a racist jibe at the President. The publishers of the cartoons once again try to take cover under the veneer of the First Amendment. Public opinion is again distracted by the purported suppression of rights.It's all a familiar story.

It maybe impossible to ban such crude, offensive humor by law. But hopefully public outrage discourages further such misadventures.