Another piece by Amrit to please her English readers in the Times, (23 June 2025). She says that the Home Minister Amit Shah wants to remove English from the country. Politicians talk, they are not always taken seriously. There is no debate going on in India regarding English. It is a figment of Amrit’s imagination. Bringing in Caste at every opportunity is Amrit’s forte. The President of India is from the tribal community and many so called Dalits are holding powerful positions in many fields. The pathetic argument that Dalits will not be able to fight for their rights without English is laughable. Legends of Hindi speaking Indian leaders have fought for Dalit rights.
The point being made by the government is that lack of English should not be a barrier to getting educational degrees in subjects like medicine. Courses can be adapted in Hindi and other regional languages. Another redherring Amrita comes up with is that BJP wants to impose Hindi on Southern States. Modi has categorically said that all the languages of India are equally important. The Hindu Nationalist Party BJP is removing English street names and military regimental names cries Dhillon. There are many nationalist Christian parties in Europe but I have never heard the correspondents of the Times call them Christian Nationalists. Amrit goes on to quote a Dalit rights campaigner by the name of Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd. He claims that the BJP does not want Dalits to learn English because they would learn concepts of equality through the language. If concepts like equality can be learnt through English how did the speakers of the language colonise so many countries.
The readers of the Times should take Amrit’s stories with a pinch of salt. Her only objective is to please English readers by name calling and false claims.
Nitin Mehta
23 June 2025.
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