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Article 14.1 National
languages
The following
languages shall be the national languages of India and the
official languages of the states mentioned against them:
1 Assamese: Assam
2 Bengali: Bengal, Tripura
3 Gujarati: Gujarat, Dadra & Nagar Haveli,
Daman & Diu
4 Hindi: Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan,Uttar Pradesh,
Andaman & Nicobar Island, Delhi,
Chandigarh
5 Kannada: Karnataka
6 Kashmiri
7 Konkani: Goa
8 Malayalam: Kerala, Lakshdweep
9 Manipuri: Manipur
10 Marathi: Maharashtra
11 Nepali: Sikkim
12 Oriya: Orissa
13 Punjabi: Punjab
14 Sanskrit
15 Sindhi
16 Tamil: Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry
17 Telgu: Andhra Pradesh
18 Urdu: Jammu and Kashmir
All work in the
states including that in the local and state courts and state
agencies shall be conducted in the official language of the
state.
14.2 Link languages
A language needs
to be identified as the international link language and another
as the national link language. With the advent of internet,
English has indisputably emerged as the international link
language. English shall be the international link language of
India.
In so far as the
national link language is concerned, if a referendum is held,
three languages are likely to emerge as contenders, namely
Hindi, English and Sanskrit, in the order stated. Tamil Nadu is
likely to veto Hindi as it has vehemently done in the past. Its
contention is that Tamil being a Dravedian language, its grammar
is entirely different from most other Indian languages including
Hindi whose grammar is based on Sanskrit.
In a democracy, a
language cannot be imposed on any constituent. Sanskrit is
likely to be even less acceptable to most constituents and
vetoed by Tamil Nadu, more vehemently than even Hindi. Thus the
only acceptable national link language can be English. Since it
has already become the international link language, it will be
useful to make it the national link and official language of
India. Hindi can be given the status of the principal national
language.
To sum up, all
the 18 languages listed in Article 14.1 shall be the national
languages of India with Hindi being the principal national
language. English will be the national link and official
language, and the international link language of India.
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