Jharkhand Witnesses New ‘Language-Domicile Protest’

Published
15th Feb, 2022

Context

Several parts of Jharkhand are seeing massive protests against the inclusion of Bhojpuri and Magahi as “regional languages” in district-level competitive examinations for government jobs.

About

Reason for Protest:

In December 2021, the Jharkhand Personnel, Administrative Reforms, and Rajbhasha Department issued a notification to incorporate Magahi, Bhojpuri, and Angika amongst others as regional languages within the district-level variety procedure via tests carried out by way of the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC).
Arguments made by protestors
- The inclusion of Bhojpuri and Magahi is an “infringement” at the rights of Adivasis and Moolvasis.
- The “low population” of Magahi and Bhojpuri audio system in those two districts didn’t “warrant” the inclusion of those languages within the activity variety procedure.

Languages in Jharkhand

Indo-Aryan languages: All the major languages of Jharkhand possess a connecting link with the Indo-Aryan languages. The prime lingos which predominate in Jharkhand include Oriya, Urdu, Nagpuri, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Khortha, Sadri and Angika.
Santhali Language: It is spoken chiefly in Pakur, Dumka, Godda, Jamtara, Sahibganj, Singhbhum.
Munda language: It includes different languages such as Mundari, Santhali, Kharia, Ho, Bhumij, Kurmali and Koraku. Munda language is chiefly spoken in the Chota Nagpur Plateau, Jharkhand. The language belongs to the Kherwarian sub-group found in the Jharkhand state.
Dravidian language: It includes languages such as Korwa, Oraon and Paharia.
Karmali: Karmali is one of the languages spoken in the state of Jharkhand in India. The language of Karmali is also called Khole.

Who is protesting towards the notification?

The Jharkhandi Bhasha Sangharsha Samiti, an organisation of Moolvasis and Adivasis which claims to be apolitical, has organised greater than 50 protest gatherings over the previous few days.

Language provisions in the Constitution of the Indian Union

Official Language:Article 343(1) of the Constitution provides that Hindi in Devanagari script shall be the Official Language of the Union.
The form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals.
However, the Constitution did not declare Hindi as the National language, it rather accorded Hindi the status of ‘official language’ along with English.
- Article 350A: It deals with the facilities for instruction in mother-tongue at the primary stage.
- Article 351:It provides a directive for the development of the Hindi language.

What are the official and classical languages in India?

Official Language:Currently, the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution contains 22 official languages-Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri.
Classical Languages in India:Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia

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