User:Fowler&fowler/Official language(s) of India

Here are some WP:RS references on the "Official language(s) of India," from the long RfC on Talk:India in July 2007

Encyclopedia Britannica

Schwartzberg, Joseph E., 2007. Encyclopedia Britannica, India—Linguistic Composition. Quote 1: "Of the originally 14 (subsequently 18) languages recognized as official in the Indian constitution, 13 are Indo-European (Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kashmiri, Konkani, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, and Urdu), 4 are Dravidian (Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu), and 1 is Sino-Tibetan (Manipuri) ... Indo-European languages are collectively spoken as mother tongues by nearly three-fourths of all Indians. By far the most widely spoken is Hindi, the country's official language, with more than 300 million speakers. ... Apart from its nationally preeminent position, Hindi has been adopted as the official language by each of a large contiguous bloc of northern states—Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh—as well as by the national capital territory of Delhi."

Encarta Encyclopedia

Oldenburg, Phillip. (1997-2007) Encarta Encyclopedia "India: Official Languages." Quote 2: "According to the national census of India, 114 languages and 216 dialects are spoken in the country. Eighteen Indian languages, plus English, have been given official status by the federal or state governments. Hindi is the main language of more than 40 percent of the population. No single language other than Hindi can claim speakers among even 10 percent of the total population. Hindi was therefore made India’s official language in 1965. English, which was associated with British rule, was retained as an option for official use because some non-Hindi speakers, particularly in Tamil Nādu, opposed the official use of Hindi."

Encarta Encyclopedia (2)

Fisher, Solveig G. (1997-2007) Encarta Encyclopedia "Indian Languages: Official Languages" Quote 3: "No one common language is spoken on the Indian subcontinent. Hindi and English are the co-official national languages of India, and both tongues are used as lingua francas in the various linguistic regions. In addition, the Indian constitution recognizes 18 state languages, which are used in schools and in official transactions. These are Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada (Kanarese), Kashmīri, Konkani, Malayalam, Meithei (Manipuri), Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu."

Monograph: Indo-Aryan Languages

Cardona, George and Dhanesh Jain (eds). 2003. Indo-Aryan Languages. London: Routledge. 704 pages. ISBN 0700711309. Quote 4: "Hindi, generally considered by language statisticians to be anywhere from the third to the fifth most widely spoken language in the world, is spoken natively by upwards of 300 million people. The language is, along with English, one of the two officially recognized national languages of India. (pp 250-251)"

Multilingual Matters: Journal article (1)

Kurzon, Dennis. 2004. Where East Looks West: Success in English in Goa and on the Konkan Coast, Multilingual Matters Limited. 180 pages. ISBN 1853596736. Quote 5: The Constitutional Position (p. 4): "Let us take a look at the relevant part of the Constitution, which was originally promulgated in 1950. Part XVII (Articles 343-351) deals with the official language of the Union (Chapter 1), with regional languages (Chapter 2), with the language of the judiciary (Chapter 3) and with special directives (Chapter 4). The first of the articles in this part states categorically that the official language of India is Hindi, written in the Devanagari script (based on the ancient script in which Sanskrit was written). However, this declaration is then subject to a proviso concerning English.... In India, reality controlled decision-making and in the following clause of Article 343, it is stated that English 'shall continue to be used for all official purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately before' the promulgation of the Constitution. The status of English as 'associate language' was guaranteed for 15 years from the promulgation of the Constitution (i.e. until 1965)."

UK Foreign Office: India—Country Profile

United Kingdom, Foreign and Commonwealth Office: India—Country Profile. Quote 6: "The official language of India is Hindi written in the Devanagari script and spoken by some 30% of the population as a first language. Since 1965 English has been recognised as an 'associated language'. In addition there are 18 main and regional languages recognised for adoption as official state languages."

UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights

United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Hindi. Quote 7: "Usage by Country, Official Language: India. Similarly, English Version says: "Usage by Country, Official Language: India." Contrast with: Kannada Version, which says, "Usage by Country, Official Language: Karnataka/India; Marathi Version, which says, "Usage by Country, Official Language: Maharashtra/India," and the Telegu Version, which says, "Usage by Country, Official Language: Andhra Pradesh/India."

UNESCO

UNESCO: Education for All—The Nine Largest Countries Quote 8: "Linguistic Diversity of EFA-9 Countries. India: More than 200 languages are spoken. Four major language groups are represented. The most important of these is the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European Group. Hindi is the language of 30% of the population and the official language of India. Hindi and the other Indo-Aryan languages—including Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, and Urdu--are spoken mainly in the northern part of the country and derive their script from ancient Sanskrit. The leading Dravidian languages--Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada--are spoken in four southern states. Sino-Tibetan and Austro-Asiatic languages generally survive only in small and isolated regions."

US Library of Congress, Country Profile: India

United States Library of Congress, Federal Research Division, Country Profile: India Quote 9: "Languages: The total number of languages and dialects varies by source and counting method, and many Indians speak more than one language. The Indian census lists 114 languages (22 of which are spoken by one million or more persons) that are further categorized into 216 dialects or “mother tongues” spoken by 10,000 or more speakers. An estimated 850 languages are in daily use, and the Indian Government claims there are more than 1,600 dialects. Hindi is the official language and the most commonly spoken, but not all dialects are mutually comprehensible. English also has official status and is widely used in business and politics, although knowledge of English varies widely from fluency to knowledge of just a few words. The teaching of Hindi and English is compulsory in most states and union territories. Twenty-two languages are legally recognized by the constitution for various political, educational, and other purposes: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithali, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. Numerous other languages are recognized by individual states but not officially recognized by the central government, and linguistic issues related to education, employment, and politics are sometimes politically contentious. Indeed, some state borders are based on linguistic lines. The most commonly spoken languages are Hindi (40.2 percent of the population), Bengali (8.3 percent), Telugu (7.9 percent), Marathi (7.5 percent), and Tamil (6.3 percent)."

US State Department, Background Note: India

US Department of State, Background Note: India, December 2006. Quote 10: In Profile: "Languages: Hindi, English, and 16 other official languages." Later, in "People: The government has recognized 18 official languages; Hindi, the national language, is the most widely spoken, although English is a national lingua franca."

UN High Commissioner for Refugees

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Country Profile: India Quote 11: "Hindi is constitutionally designated as the official language of India, with English as an associate official language. However, English, which is spoken by some 15 million people in India, is 'for practical purposes . . . the official language of India, the principal medium of communication among the educated classes' (Ibid.). Out of 1,652 languages and dialects spoken throughout the country, only the 15 that are spoken by 91 per cent of the population are recognized as regional languages: Sindhi, Urdu, Punjabi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Marathi, Oriya, Sanskrit and Rajasthani from the Indo-European family, and Kannada (or Kanarese), Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu from the Dravidian family. 18 regional languages are recognised by the 8th Schedule of the Constitution read with Articles 344(1) and 351 namely: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu."

Ethnolgue: Languages of the World

Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Languages of India Quote 12: "Republic of India, Bharat. 1,065,070,607. Indo-Aryan 777,361,000, 76%; Dravidian 216,635,000, 21.6%; Austro-Asiatic 12,250,000, 1.2%; Tibeto-Burman 10,350,000, 1%; Other 2,468,600, 0.2%. National or official languages: Hindi and English. There are 22 official 'scheduled' languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Meitei, Nepali, Oriya, Eastern Panjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu."

Hindi: The Official Language of India (CIE)

Mallikarjun, B. (Nov., 2004), Fifty Years of Language Planning for Modern Hindi–The Official Language of India, Language in India, Volume 4, Number 11. ISSN 1930-2940. Quote 13: "Once the Constitution of India came into force on January 26, 1950, the status of Hindi was greatly enhanced. Hindi in Devanagari script and the international form of Indian numerals form the Official language of the Union. Among the Indian languages, Hindi is the most highly empowered language which constitutionally/legally has multiple status - an official language of the Union; official language of 13 states and union territories; the major regional language in 9 states where it is a majority language, and an important minority language in 18 states and union territories. Also it is a language of deliberations of the Parliament of India and state legislatures in the states in which it is recognized as an official language. Apart from this, the Constitution also provides that, with mutual consent, any two states or the states and the Union can use it as a language for their inter- communication. It is the majority language of the country and also a Scheduled Language since it is in the VIIIth Schedule of the Constitution. It is the only language about whose development the Constitution has given direction, and hence it has the constitutional right for development."

Language in India: Journal Article (2)

Mallikarjun, B. (April 2004). "Indian Multilingualism, Language Policy, and the Digital Divide", Language in India, Volume 4, Number 4, ISSN 1930-2940. Quote 14: "Normally for any policy extension initiated by the government, the government wants a list of languages. It will start with Hindi the official language of the Union at the first instance, and then move towards, at the second instance, to the Scheduled Languages.

Language policy in India: Journal article (3)

Laitin, David 1989. "Language policy and political strategy in India." Policy Sciences. 22:415-436. Quote 15: "Gandhi also emphasized the need for an indigenous all-India language as something of grave need, and promoted Hindustani, a north Indian koine that blurred the distinction between Hindi and Urdu. In 1925, the Congress amended article 33 of its Constitution to read, 'The proceedings of the Congress shall be conducted as far as possible in Hindustani? Gandhi did not advocate that the regional languages should be ignored; rather, he felt that a common Indian language for an independent country was of utmost concern. As Congress party nationalists debated as members of the constituent assembly to draft a Constitution, despite heated arguments about a plethora of language issues, there was hardly any question about the desirability of a common official language, and that some form of Hindi would play that role) ~ India's constitution therefore specified that Hindi would eventually become the official language for all-Union business, supplanting English. Then came the question of state languages. The Constitution did not prescribe Hindi for official use within states (see Article 345). Furthermore, in Articles 344 (1) and 351, states were permitted with some restrictions to adopt any language they wanted for official purposes. And the 'Eighth Schedule' specified a list of fourteen 'languages of India' whose speakers would be given protected seats on the Presidential Commission to implement the All-India language policy."

Government of India statements on "Official language of India"

• On its website page, "Republic Day," the Government of India says in the second paragraph: "26th January, 1950 was the day when the Indian republic and its Constitution came into force. It was this day in history in 1965 when Hindi was declared as the official language of India."
• This Press Information Bureau story says (please scroll down half-way down the page to 40 Officials Awarded Prizes etc and read: "Speaking on the occasion, the Secretary, Legislative Department Dr. Raghbir Singh congratulated the recipients of awards in various categories of competitions for promotion of Hindi as the official language of India."
• The Education Ministry of the Government of India, says, in the Introduction, "In its Eighth Schedule the Constitution of India has specified 15 Modern Indian Languages. Of these, Hindi has been accorded the status of the official language of India and English of an associate language."
• The "General Information about India" offered by the Government. It says: LANGUAGE: Hindi is the official language of India, but English is widely understood and spoken."
• For those who claim that Union = Government of India, The National Council of Educational Research and Training whose task it is "to advise and assist the Government of India in formulating and implementing policies and programmes in the field of education, particularly school education." says on page 2 of its webpage on School Curriculum, "... emphasising the teaching of Hindi as the official language of India and Samskrit as the language of traditional wisdom and culture of the country." (Since its curriculum is followed by over 15 million high-school students all over the country, Hindi is not just the official language of the Government.)

Widely used Indian high-school text (post-BJP revised NCERT)

• These same 15 million students, when they get to grade 12 in high-school, learn in the textbook produced by the Education Council above, in Chapter 12: India after independence, A constitution is written page 164(5), "A compromise was finally arrived at: namely, that while Hindi would be the “official language” of India, English would be used in the courts, the services, and communications between one state and another."