THE All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), in a statement issued on October 11, has condemned the anti-national and anti-constitutional move by the Modi regime to implement the RSS’s pet agenda of “Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan” and “cultural nationalism” by destroying the linguistic and cultural diversity of India. In its 11th report presented to the President of India, the Committee of Parliament on Official Language, headed by union home minister Amit Shah has recommended that the medium of instruction in all top technical and non-technical institutions should mandatorily be Hindi.

Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) fall under the category of technical institutes, and non-technical institutes include central universities, Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVs). Apart from making all premium central institutes inaccessible to non-Hindi linguistic nationalities, the committee has also recommended the elimination of compulsory English language question papers in the recruitment examinations.

AIKS is of the firm opinion that these recommendations are negating the legacy of the freedom struggle and the constitutional promises of nourishing unity in diversity. Favouring Hindi at the cost of the other languages is a frontal attack on national integration. It is not surprising that Amit Shah, nourished by the fascistic RSS, is leading this frightening move to divide Indians on linguistic lines and even cause the disintegration of India.

This move will have a serious impact on the peasant households which are already strangulated by the pro-corporate policies of the Modi regime. Because of the chronic agrarian crisis, youth from agrarian families consider government subsidised education and central government jobs as important tools for social mobility. If accepted, these recommendations will severely damage the social mobility chances of the young generation.

AIKS calls upon all democratic forces in the country to join hands and come forward unitedly to defeat the fascistic design of RSS and its stooges in the parliament. This is important to protect the unity and diversity of our multinational country that emerged through the freedom struggle to overthrow the hegemony of British imperialism.