The 360 Degree View

Is India ready for One Language for its Masses?   That's a good question we Indians have been searching more than 50-years for an answer!  The One Language issue was so controversial during our Republic’s formative years, and it continues to be troublesome 62-years after independence.  Although the issue seems to have simmered, it has the potential to rear its head if our leaders are not careful.  History's Lessons There are those who argue that Hindi should be the unifying language, while some others claim English should be our link language.  Before we move on to moderate that debate, here’s a brief history lesson.  At the time of Independence, with the Hindi speaking people in majority, it was decided that Hindi would replace English as the pseudo-National language by 1965.  Important to note is that this victory for Hindi over the South-supported-English was accomplished by one extra vote in its favor.  Clearly, Hindi was not backed by majo...

Are Muslim women allowed to wear burqa and vote ? Says No, the Supreme Court of India in a significant landmark judgement on Jan 23, 2010. With the issues firmly settled, now what? I am glad that Supreme Court of India did answer they way it did. I think it is a silent victory for progressive Muslims, who for long have been dominated by the clerics of Islam. The Courts ruled from the point of view of operational effectiveness, I look at it from the fact that we need to call out those narrow religion based arguments. Do respect your religion and traditions, but don't have a blind eye towards progress. My view is that Muslims in India have long suffered because of sticking too much to their traditions and religion. Clearly, it does not apply to ALL Muslims because we have seen the likes of Dr. Kalam, Azhar, Sania Mirza etc emerge, but there isn't enough momentum to lift many from the depths of tradition and insularity. One thing is for sure that Indian Muslims do tend to av...