A House Divided

The recent language row is symptomatic of the fault lines in Centre-State relations as also over-politicisation of sensitive issues. Propelled by the popularity of Hindi films and TV serials, use of Hindi in the armed forces and in the Central Government, Hindi has become the de facto lingua franca for non-English speaking people of all States. On the other hand, Hindi propagandists often damage their own case by insensitive over-promotion of Hindi.