Does India Need a National Language?

Most countries, including Korea, have one national language that unifies their people and culture.

One the other hand, some nations are a diverse mix of cultures and people.

Hence, they have several national languages.

For India, a multi-ethnic state with a population of over 1.3 billion people, the situation is even more complicated.

Out of respect for its diversity, India recognizes 22 different languages in its constitution.

However, in order not to offend any of its ethnic groups, no single language is considered the national language.

Sometimes, this balance among different ethnic groups can be precarious.

Indeed, its sensitive nature recently came to light during a speech by Minister Amit Shah, a high-ranking government official.

During an official ceremony, the minister said that Hindi should be made India's national language.

"India has many languages and every language has its importance," he said.

"But it is necessary that the entire country should have one language that becomes India's identity globally."

Hindi is spoken by over 500 million people in the country, more than any other language.

Along with English, it is given "official language" status because it is used by the government.

It is also commonly spoken in business and heard in songs and movies.

However, opposition leaders and minority groups condemned the minister's remarks.

They said that making Hindi the country's national language would threaten their identity and cultural freedom.

They added that it would unfairly benefit the dominant Hindu ethnic group, making its language the symbol of the country as a whole.

Facing severe backlash, Minister Shan took back his remarks, saying that he was not imposing Hindi on speakers of other languages.

 

• unify  ˈjuːnɪfaɪ  통합[통일]하다

• Hence  hens  이런 이유로

• ethnic  ˈeθnɪk  민족[종족]의

• Out of respect  존경심에서

• constitution  ˌkɑːnstəˈtuːʃn   헌법  /   구조 (=structure)

• recognize  ˈrekəɡnaɪz  (존재·진실성을) 인정[인식]하다 (=acknowledge)   공인[승인]하다

• offend  əˈfend  기분 상하게[불쾌하게] 하다 /  범죄를 저지르다  offensive  əˈfensɪv   모욕적인, 불쾌한 (↔inoffensive)  (군사적) 공격 (=strike)

• precarious  prɪ|keriəs   불안정한, 위태로운

• Indeed  ɪnˈdiːd   (긍정적인 진술·대답을 강조하여) 정말[확실히]

• sensitive nature  예민한 성질

• come to light  (사람들에게) 알려지다[밝혀지다]

• globally  전세계적으로  

• status ˈsteɪtəs  (법적) 신분[자격]

• condemn  kənˈdem   (보통 도덕적인 이유로) 규탄[비난]하다

• threaten ˈθretn    협박[위협]하다

• dominant  |dɑːmɪnənt  우세한, 지배적인 /  우성(優性)의 (→recessive)

• backlash  ˈbæklæʃ   (사회 변화 등에 대한 대중의) 반발

• take back (자기가 한 말을) 취소[철회]하다

• impose  ɪmˈpoʊz  (새로운 법률·세금 등을) 도입[시행]하다 /   (의견 등을) 강요하다