New Delhi, Jun 18 (UNI) Voicing his protest against imposition of any language – be it English or Hindi, Bhartiya Bhasha Sammelan president Ved Pratap Vaidik on Tuesday said learning of English should not be compulsory for anybody in the country.
Addressing a press conference here, Dr Vaidik said he fully supported the government's move not to impose Hindi on Tamil Nadu or any non Hindi states but at the same time, he strongly opposed the imposition of English all over the country.
Dr Vaidik's submission of PhD thesis in international affairs in Hindi at Jawaharlal Nehru University, here, 50 years ago had rocked Parliament.
He clarified that he was not opposed to English "but he is against the slavery of English."
He said he himself had learnt many foreign languages but that was his own decision.
'But making any language compulsory for anybody is not good. it is better if choice of learning any language, should be left to the students,'he said.
Dr Vaidik felt that people would opt for learning more languages, rather each other's languages voluntarily once compulsion of English was removed from India's governance, administration, Parliament, courts, higher education, trade and employment.
"Tamilians will learn Hindi and Hindi speaking people will learn Tamil on their own and that will strengthen our country's unity in true sense... If English is not compulsory in the recruitments of the jobs, which Indian parents will force their children to go to the costly English medium schools," he said.
Appreciating the draft new education policy which highlights dangers of imposing English on the young students, he, however, lamented that the incumbent government which claims to be nationalist had done nothing to get rid of the burden of compulsory English from education and employment.
He urged the government to show the same courage in removing the compulsion of English as it had done in case of Hindi in Tamil Nadu. He appealed to the citizens at large to launch a countrywide agitation against the imposition of English.
UNI SW AR 1831