Respect for Language

Sentiment is a big word. No law, no order, no constitution can be override a sentiment attached to some belief or region, or language. Recent controversy in Maharashtra on Jaya Bachchan’s statement is a stark example. 

Jaya Bachchan was reported to have said - “I am from Uttar Pradesh and so will speak Hindi”. As per Raj Thackeray, this amounts to disrespect for Marathi. His supporters torn off the posters of Bachchans’ movies and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) decided to boycott their movies. 

Hue and cry raised on Jaya Bachchan’s statement was completely beyond any logical understanding. At the first place, if one does not know the local language, he himself will face problems. He/she will face difficulties in day to day communication (maid, shops, conveyance, etc). Knowing the local language is always a plus, as one can correlate with people in a better way. But ultimately advantage or disadvantage of speaking or not speaking a language is for the person. It cannot be other way round. Language cannot be at disadvantage by somebody not speaking it. 

Marathi (or any other language) as a language is great in itself, and does not need any endorsement for whether it is respectable or not. If somebody does not speak Marathi, the language is far too great to be affected by it. If Marathi could speak, it would have said to Jaya Bachchan – “Ok, don’t speak me, it doesn’t matter. But if you speak, it would be nice and I will give you my affection.” 

Then, what is the reason for a fraction of people feeling insulted. Let us consider the ways, in which somebody can insult a language. A person may criticize the language based on its words or grammar or vocabulary, or usage of words or sentence formation. A creative criticism should be welcomed to enrich the language. 

Somebody may make a superfluous mockery about the language or its contents. There are two ways to face this mockery. If it is intended for fun, it can be enjoyed by all in good spirits. If it is intended to insult the language, the statement can be countered by giving factual information and inviting a debate on the matter. Vandalism, destruction, boycott only prove that one has lost ability to think rationally. Nobody can be stopped from saying or doing anything, neither can be compelled to say or do anything, except if it can result into real and grave threat. 

In Jaya Bachchan’s case, where is the threat? By whom, and to whom? Is this threat real or just an illusion in mind? She did not say a single word about Marathi, far from anything against it. She did not say anything, which would lower the respect of other people for Marathi. She did not mock at the language. Then what is the problem? 

The problem is Raj Thackeray and company themselves do not have any respect for the language. They are dependent on others for respect of Marathi. If a person from Delhi and UP speaks Marathi, they will feel proud, if they don’t, they will be disappointed. They do not have any respect for the language and want to derive it out of others. And they are not much different. We all do the same thing at national level. Whenever foreigners talks about yoga or speaks a couple of Hindi words, we jump with so called proud. Are we waiting for others to approve our languages or we ourselves will do something about it?

Language is not respected by forcing others to use it. A language is respected when rich work is performed in it, classic literature is created, heart winning movies are made, great theatrical performances are shown, its vocabulary is enriched or when its public usage is facilitated (not compelled). When Devaki Nandan Khatri wrote ‘Chandrakanta’, people learnt Hindi specially to read it. Why doesn’t Shiv Sena or MNS take up something like this? Why don’t they encourage great works to be done in Marathi? No, they will not do that for two reasons. First, threatening people, vandalizing shops and tearing posters is much easier than doing something creative like that. Second, they will not get so much political publicity in doing creative stuff, as they get in raising these unproductive controversies. 

And if anybody thinks that by compelling people to use or speak a language, he is respecting it, he would better think again. You compel a child to go to temple and he will make sure that he never ever passes through the temple. You compel him to give respect to you, and he will never listen to you. Human beings are free spirits by nature and more you force them, more they will resist. If you want respect for language, develop the language in a way that people start using it automatically. Shiv Sena and MNS may compel people to utter a few Marathi words or to put signboards in Marathi, but they will not create a place for Marathi language in people’s heart. This compulsion can never result into deep respect for language, rather it will get a bad name because of these people. 

And while this self appointed cultural police claims to protect the respect for Marathi language, they crumble the respect of India as a united nation, by bringing division based on language and region. They insult constitution, which allows each citizen freedom to express freely, irrespective of language. They insult the integrity of nation by restricting free movement across states. And they insult their own region and language by indulging in such activities and spreading a bad name for the entire state and community. 

And, finally if they aim at gaining some political ground by using these cheap tactics, they better get their notions corrected. Just look around for comments on these activities and they will find that most of the Marathi speaking population is against their unreasonable actions.