Odisha’s cultural confidence lies in embracing diversity, not rejecting Hindi or any other tongue
Sutanu Guru
The author is still amused with some memories from school and college days. Back then, in the 1970s and early 1980s, the only avenues for leisure and entertainment were movies, books, music and then television. Even then, Hindi was somehow treated derisively and disdainfully by the elites. Most Indians back then associated HMT with the wristwatch which became a prized possession when you passed out of school. HMT was also short form for “Hindi Medium Type”. There were many in school and college who would actually enjoy watching movies of Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna and even Mithun Chakraborty. But would deny it in public and proclaim they watched only English movies from Hollywood, and read only books by English authors. There was a large element of hypocrisy and double standards even then when Hindi was looked down upon as the lingua franca of country cousins.
There is still a lot of hypocrisy and double standards when the hitherto elite disdain for Hindi has transformed into a political tool and force to whip up sentiments and wage linguistic and cultural wars. The author was bemused to see a news report some weeks ago which said there were some objections raised inside the Odisha assembly when an MLA was seen asking questions in Hindi. In any case, the new BJP regime in Odisha keeps talking about “Odiya Asmita” like a parrot repeating a few select phrases. Would Odisha too join the bandwagon of states that have become so hostile to Hindi “imposition” that some fierce linguistic “activists” have started treating people who can speak Hindi but not the local language as some kind of aliens who need to be banished from the state? Frankly, the author doubts if ordinary folks in Odisha become as aggressive as their counterparts in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
But it is worthwhile looking at the ugliness this is leading to. The state that has been fiercely opposing the “imposition” of Hindi for the longest time has been Tamil Nadu. For decades, anti-Hindi and even anti-Hindu sentiments have been repeatedly whipped up by politicians to win elections. Not very long ago, Udhayanidhi Stalin, the son of chief minister M. K. Stalin and possibly a future chief minister himself publicly described Sanatana Dharma as akin to Dengue and Malaria that needs to be eliminated. Hindi is considered worse. Karnataka was not besotted by anti-Hindi linguistic wars till recently. But for the last decade or so, Kannada “activists” have decided that resorting to violence and displaying street muscle against Hindi is a good political strategy, apart from catching attention. Of course, the champions of anti-Hindi street violence can be found in Maharashtra, particularly members of the Shiv Sena which has splintered into three separate parties. With each clamouring for the “Marathi Manoos” vote, there is a competition now to beat up auto drivers, bank managers, shopkeepers and others who speak in Hindi but cannot converse in Marathi. No matter how much you love your mother tongue, this kind of street violence is bigoted and senseless. Respect for Marathi will not go up just because you beat up some helpless people who cannot retaliate. Don’t be surprised if West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her TMC supporters whip up the anti-Hindi sentiment in the state as elections approach in April 2026. It is all grandstanding for elections. There is no genuine commitment to local language, culture, music, dance, literature and more.
As far as the author is concerned, each language has its own beauty and grace. For centuries, local languages have survived, prospered and given great art and literature. But the decision to learn how many languages should be left to parents of children going to school. Common sense says that proficiency in English gives an edge to any student in a future job market. Common sense also says that learning Hindi could be advantageous as it facilitates conducting business or earning livelihoods in large parts of India. But since when has common sense been a trait displayed by “activists” fighting for a “cause”? The author is quite convinced Odisha will be spared this nonsense apart from some occasional rhetoric. It is very interesting to note that Gujarat and Odisha are two non-Hindi speaking states where local people do not get upset and violent if you speak in Hindi. In fact, the author has seen schools in Surat that teach Odiya to children of migrant workers. The locals are impeccable in their language.
When it comes to Odisha, many are ignorant of a significant fact. It is the first state in modern India to be constituted on the basis of language. Odisha and its many acronyms like Utkal, Kalinga et al have been around for thousands of years. But during the British Empire, it was subsumed in the Bengal and Bihar provinces. Thanks to a prolonged agitation, the modern state of Odisha was formally constituted on April 1, 1936, well before independence. Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra joined the pantheon of language-based states much after independence.
(Author has been a media professional for over 3 decades. He is now Executive Director, C Voter Foundation. Views are Personal.)
