Information technology is often cited as a field where Indians have met with great success and English is said to be mainly instrumental in this. The fact is India ranks 154th in information technology, with Pakistan coming a close 155th.
An Indian who is running a computer-connected industry in China told me that the English required for computer-concerned industries in America can be learned within one year and this is what the Chinese desirous of getting American jobs in this field are doing.
The Organiser of August 8 has a headline ?India can Emerge as a Big Power without English?. This is an understatement. I would like to say, ?India cannot Emerge as a Big Power as Long as it Clings to English?. It is said that demand for the use of Indian languages is merely emotional. The boot is on the other leg. That one should use one´s own language in one´s own country is as much horse sense as saying that one should walk on one´s own legs and not ride in the arms of someone else. The demand for English on the other hand cannot be justified on any objective grounds. It arises from the emotion of servility, of taking pride in slavery as was the case with the Roman slaves who wanted to cling to the wooden ring in their neck even after they were freed, because they thought they would be orphans without it.
Can one expect that pupils who are taught in their own languages are so useless, that no education worthwhile can be imparted to them and that they will ever develop any self-respect? ?Your languages are worthless,? amounts to saying, ?you are worthless?. Language is an inseparable part of any society. It cannot be substituted and removed at will. Everything else can be so changed, but transplanting the language of one society with another has never been found possible.
Leave a Comment