The Gujral Committee Report - Language in India

There was yet another disquieting factor in the case of Urdu. The politicalization of the language issue in the late thirties lies and early forties had left little scope for rational thinking. The image of Urdu as an integral part of the common national heritage got 5.28
In certain quarters, this bred an attitude of apathy and even of antagonism towards Urdu. Unfortunate as the development was, it placed the speakers of Urdu at a disadvantage and it has taken about two decades for these aberrations to subside and blurred.
healthier atmosphere to prevail. The greatest single stablizing factor has, of course, a
the Constitution of India, which recognized Urdu as an important Indian-language by giving it a place in the Eighth Schedule. been
The Constitution has laid down broad guidelines in respect of the languages of the Union and the States. These have been dealt with at some length in the chapter on Constitutional Safeguards. The details of future policy were filled in subsequently by the 5.29
and the State Governments. Centre
States States States Reorganisation
Reorganisation
Demands for the redrawing of the administrative map of India on linguistic lines had been voiced in pre-Independence days also. As time went on, these grew in intensity and the Government of Inda 5.30
appointed the States Reorganisation Commission in 1953 to examine the question in detail and to make recommendations. The Commission submitted its report in 1955 and 77
States were reorganisd in 1956. the
Language in India www.languageinindia.com
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foreseen clearly that none of the States could be absolutely unilingual and that each State would have to tackle the question of linguistic minorities within its territory in a manner that satisfied their legitimate aspirations. However, it envisaged that a state could be unilingual where the speakers of a particular language constituted 70% or more of the total population. As a corollary, it was stipulated that
The Gujral Committee Report on Urdu