CONSTITUTION (AMENDMENT)BILL
(AMENDMENT OF EIGHTH SCHEDULE) BY SHRIMATI DIL KUMARI BHANDARI- CONTD.
[English]
MR. CHAIRMAN: The House shall now take up further consideration of the following motion moved by Shrimati Dil Kumari Bhandari on the 10 April, 1992, namely -
"That the Bill further to amend the Constitution of India, be taken into consideration."
Shri Lal K. Advani to continue his speech.
[Translation]
SHRI LAL K. ADVANI (Gandhi Nagar): Mr. Chairman, Sir, I think it would be better if the Government takes a decision soon on the Bill introduced by Shrimati Dil Kumari Bhandari on which she had expressed her views earlier and, I had also spoken on it.
Mr. Chairman, Sir, their non-inclusion in the Eighth Schedule is an irony when Nepali and Manipuri and the languages which have been recognised in the States where they are spoken by the majority of the people. Sikkim was not one of our States earlier. But today Nepali is the recognised language of Sikkim. West Bengal has also recognised Nepali language because it is spoken in one of its part especially in Darjeeling. In the same way Manipuri is the official language of Manipur. It is the language of courts also. It has its long history and
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Published in the Gazette of India extraordinary, Part II , Section 2, dated 24.4.1992.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 487 Const (Amend.) Bill (Amend. of Eighth schedule)
[Sh. Lal K. Advani]
literature. So I do not think It proper that by including these two languages in the Eighth Schedule, an injustice would be done to those language which stake their claim for inclusion in this schedule. I feel that it should be delinked from Separate decision their claims which should be decided on their individual merits. I am not going to give their names. There are at least four-five languages in my mind, for which there are continuous demands for their inclusion in the Eighth Schedule. But those four-five languages are not recognised even in their respective States, though they should have been recognised in the respective States too. As far as Manipuri is concerned, even the State unit has not recommended for it but in case of Nepali four different legislative Assemblies of States have unanimously demanded its inclusion. At this time InderJeetJi is not present here. In this context, I would like to mention his name also, since last time when InderJeetJi had raised objection then I had humbly said that if there is agreement on language and there is any dispute over the probable name of the language only, then you give recognition to this language as "Nepali-Gorkhali". But later on when a number of Nepali people met me, then I realised the reason of the objection on the word "Nepali". After I came to know about the objection, I felt that I am hot in a position on favour "Nepali- Gorkhali'. However, as per the manifesto of my party, only Nepali and Manipuri languages are said to be recognised and therefore I understand that the Bill moved by Dil Kumari Bhandari Ji should be supported as it is. This dispute arises by including the word 'Gorkhali'. I would like to mention about those persons also who have raised this dispute that since Nepali is a foreign language, it should not be given recognition. I do not accept this logic and I am of the opinion that the Nepali speaking people have been living here for years and it would be totally wrong to term these people as foreigners and in view of these circumstances, I support and favour the word "Nepali", in the same form as it has been used in the Bill.
by Statt. Dil Kumari Bhandari 488
I will conclude by saying one thing in support of this Bill that our country is a democratic country and the democratic norms adopted to force the Government to accept the demands should be respected.
Uptil now, it was considered that a large community, which gives a petition, representation and passes a resolution in a legal manner regarding some specific demand and on that basis wins the elections etc., then naturally the ruling persons will give him due regard in view of all these things. Gradually such a situation is cropping up in which people are getting an impression that passing of resolutions, giving memorandums and unanimous resolutions are not enough to get fulfilled their demands. Unless they resort to some riots and violence for emphasis in their demands. Unless some violent steps are not taken, New Delhi will be utterly headless. This impression is a very dangerous impression and it should not be allowed to go on increasing. Recently I had been to Manipur and I saw there very odd situation. There is no reply to their query as to why the Government is not giving recognition to Manipuri language dispute so many requests made by the legislative assembly. All the people and all the parties are of the same opinion and there is no controversy on this single point. As a result of it, a movement has been going on there for some months opposing all the languages of the eighth schedule.
Since you do not give recognition to their language, they do not give recognition to other languages of India. If some film of other language is released in Manipur. They will not allow it to be shown and they will remove all the boards printed in all other languages. I understand that they have no intention to oppose the languages through this move. They are not against any language. When I went there I spoke in Hindi only; at that time nobody asked me not to speak in Hindi, we do not like Hindi but they listened to me in Hindi.
Outwardly it appears that they are against Hindi but I am of the firm opinion that they are not against Hindi. They are not even against but they express their anguish through it as to why their language is not given recognition; and the Government should not allow their anguish to cross a certain limit.
489 Const. (Amend.) Bill (Amend. of Eighth schedule)
As regards Nepali language, this much I know that the Chief Minister of Sikkim had met me thrice, at least. All the representatives of all the parties, and more than 100 Members of Parliament have given in writing to this Government, to the previous Government and to the pre-previous Government and they have been giving memorandums from time to time in this regard. All the legal and democratic ways, they have exhausted and despite all these methods when there is no response from the Centre, naturally they will react to it and this reaction of theirs will naturally be not good in the interest of the country.
Therefore, I will again submit that this is a private member's Bill and it has, been the tradition of this House that the Government talks so much on private members' Bills and also realizes and inherent feelings of the Bills but always says that the views expressed in the Bill have weight, we regard your feelings but we request you to withdraw the Bills and on that basis, the Bills are withdrawn, the hon. Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs is sitting here, and I submit to him that the delay in this matter will cause a great loss. Our land is suffering from this loss and I think there is no difficulty in avoiding the loss. The hon. Finance Minister is also present here and he might be agree with me that the Government does not have. to bear financial loss of even a single pie by including any language in the eighth schedule. Yes, there will be some expenditure on the printing of that page of Constitution but that much of expenditure occurs even on a Private Member's Bill.(Interruptions)
Therefore, when I saw this Bill I found that it is a very small one and there is no lacuna in it. Therefore, if it is approved as it is it will be much better. There is no need at all of any change in it. Mr. Jacob can accept it today and can create a History.
As far as I remember a Private Member's Bill was passed in India only once and that was the Firoj Gandhi Bill, which was later on known as Firoj Gandhi Bill. The provision of that Bill was that if the press reporters, sitting in the gallery, cover some proceedings properly, then no action can be taken against
by Statt. 490 Dil Kumari Bhandari
them and no law suit can be filed against them in the same way as no defamation case be filed against any Member. Similarly no case can be filed against the Press reporters.
SHRI MOHAN SINGH (Deoria): He was the son-in-law of the Prime Minister. If the Members have the same position and present the Bills, this Government will also approve the same.
SHRI LAL K. ADVANI: I am referring to that only because that is a precedent. If there, is any legal lacuna in this Bill then it can be removed within two minutes by bringing an official amendment. There is a mention of clause 7A and 8A in this Bill and if you feel that these have already been amended in the past, then these can be renumbered now and these two languages can be added and placed at appropriate numbers and then there will be 17 languages instead of 15 languages in the. Schedule. If these are kept even at 7-A and 8-A even then there is no objection. The languages placed-at Sl. Nos 7-A and 8-A can be placed at other Sl. Nos. The language maintained at Sl. No. 8 can be placed at Sl. No. 10 and thus renumbering of Sl.
Nos. can solve the whole problem within two minutes. I hope that the whole of the House might be agree with me and will accept it. But my submission in this matter is that the time is very important, we must recognise its importance and it should not be treated as an ordinary Bill but it should be treated as a very important Bill and it should be accepted by the Government. With these submission I whole heartedly support the Bill of Shrimati Dil Kumari Bhandari.
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15.45 hrs.
CONSTITUTION (AMENDMENT) BILL*
(AMENDMENT OF ARTICLE 371)
[English]
MR. CHAIRMAN: At this stage, I allow Shri Moreshwar Save to introduce the Bill. Shri Moreshwar Save.
491 Const. (Amend.) Bill (Amend. of Eighth schedule)
SHRI MORESHWAR SAVE (Aurangabad): Sir, I beg to move for leave to introduce a Bill further to amend the Constitution of India.
MR. CHAIRMAN: The question is:
"That leave be granted to introduce a Bill further to amend the Constitution of India."
The motion was adopted.
SHRI MORESHWAR SAVE: I introduce the Bill.
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15.45 1/2 hrs.
CONSTITUTION (AMENDMENT) BILL
(AMENDMENT OF EIGHTH SCHEDULE) BY SHRIMATI DIL KUMARI BHANDARI- CONTD
Mr. Chairman: The House will continue the further discussion on the Bill moved by Shrimati Dil Kumari Bhandari. Shri Zantya may speak now.
SHRI HARISH NARAYAN PRABHU ZANTYE(Panji): Sir, I fully support the amendment Bill moved by the hon. Member Shrimati Dil Kumari Bhandari to include Manipuri and Nepali languages in the Eighth Schedule of the constitution. This will give these languages their due recognition and also fulfil the aspirations of the millions of people who speak these languages to further enrich them.
Yet another language which is long overdue for including in the Eighth Schedule is the Konkani language, Which is spoken by over 50 lakhs people in the States of Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra, Goa being the facal Centre.
Kionkani is a modern is a modern IndoAryan language with Devnagari as its script.
by Statt. Dil Kumari Bhandari 492
As is the case with most Indian languages, Konkani is also derived from Sanskrit language and has close affinity with marathi, Hindi and Gujarati. It is the official language of Goa and Is the medium of Instruction at the primary level. At present, It is also subject of study at the secondary, graduate and post-graduate levels.
It Is also one of the subjects for the UGO NET Examinations at the All India level for recruitment for lecturers and awarding of Junior Research Fellowships.
In 1975, the Sahitya Akademi, which is the highest literary court of the country recognised Konkani as an independent literary language of India. Since_ then, Konkani writers and authors have been receiving Sahitya Akademi Awards for their significant contribution to Indian literature.
Every year, hundreds of books are published in konkani. the main publishing centers being Goa, Bombay, Mangalore and Konchi. Many periodicals are published from Goa, Bombay, Mangalore and Kerala. A Konkani news bulletin is also being broadcast from the Bombay Station of the All India Radio.
Appreciating the strong feeling of the Konkani speaking people, the Legislative Assembly of Goa has passed a resolution demanding inclusion of Konkani in the Eighth Schedule. Even the International Goan Convention hold in Toronto, Canada in August 1988 sent communication to the Centre embodying these demands. But, apart from promises, there has been no positive response from the Government so far.
The Konkani speaking community is getting restless over the indifference towards their legitimate demands voiced time and again over the last four decades. A feeling is now growing amongst Konkani speaking people that they are deprived of the opportunities of participation in a number of programmes at the national level.
Sensing this feeling of resentment, the 11th All India Konkani Sahitya Sammelan held at a Karwar In Karnataka State on the 8th and 9th *Published in the Gazette of India,Extraordinary, Part-II, Section 2, dated 24.4.1992
493 Const. (Amend.) Bill (Amend. of Eighth schedule)
February 1992 passed a unanimous resolution urging the Government of India to include Konkani in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution without any further delay and to put and end to the injustice to which Konkani speaking community has been. so far subjected to. So, our request to our Government is along with Manipur and Nepali, Konkani may also be included in the Eighth Schedule.
[Translation]
SHRI MOHAN SINGH (Deoria): Hon. Chairman, Sir, Shrimati Dil Kumari Bhandari has presented in this House a bill which will be welcomed by every one. That is why I would like to extend my as well as my part's whole hearted support to it.
It is an irony that Government has made it a practive to not enact a law even on a subject which has the support of all the parties unless a rebellious attitude is adopted towards it.
Today, the situation is that about one dozen youth from Manipur under the leadership of Yan Sarad Chandra, are going round Delhi meeting and motivating the various political parties, youth organisations and intellectuals to press the Central Government to include Manipuri and Nepali in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Manipuri is the medium of instructions upto 12th standard in Manipur. Manipuri is also the language of the Legislative Assembly over there. The Government work is also done in Manipuri.
But the youth of Manipur who receive education upto secondary level with Manipuri as medium of instruction do not have better prospects for making to All India Services, if they pursue their studies at university level with same medium of instructions.
Private Members bills have been presented in this August House in 1985 and in 1988 on two occasion earlier and several times prior to that for the purpose of including Nepali and Manipuri in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. Government also gave assurances on those bills. Hon. Shri Chit
by Statt. 494 Dil Kumari Bhandari
Basu is present in the House. I was going through the old proceedings when happened to see a bill presented in the House by him Governments come and go. Manipuri could not get place in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution despite several assurances given by various Government on this important issue.
Today, there is a atmosphere of revolt against Hindi and Manipur.
Why is it so? The people there have got a feeling that the supermacy of Hindi is virtually a hurdle In the way of including Manipuri in the 8th Schedule of the Constitutions. This issue has assumed this proportion. What does the constitution of India say in the article 345:
"The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. Not withstanding anything in clause, for a period of fifteen years from the commencement of this Constitution, the English language shall continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately before such commencement.
The President shall, at the expiration of five years from the commencement of this Constitution and thereafter at the expiration of ten years from such commencement by order constitute a Commission which shall consist of a Chairman and such other Members representign the different languages specified in the Eighth Schedule as the President may appoint, and the order shall define the procedure to be followed by the Commission. It shall be the duty of the Commission to make recommendations to the President as to the progressive use of the Hindi language for the official purposes of the Union, restrictions on the use of the English language for all or any of the official purposes of the Unions, the language to be used for all or any of the purposes maintained in article 348.
Today the non-inclusion of Manipuri in the Eighth Schedule is adversely affective the propagation, promotion and progressive uses of Hindi, as envisaged in the Constitution of India. If the objective enshrined in the article 343 and 344 are to be fulfilled then 495 Const (Amend.) Bill (Amend. of Eighth schedule)
[Sh. Mohan Singh]
Manipuri should be included in the 8th Schedule.
Article 347 says -
"On a demand being made in that behalf the President may, if he is satisfied that a substantial proportion of the population of a State desire the use of any language spoken by them to be recognised by that State, direct that such language shall also be officially recognised throughout that State or any part thereof for such purpose as he may specify"
By untrue of this provision Manipuri became the language of courts in Manipuri and it also became the language of the Legislature and the medium of instruction upto middle school level. As Manipuri is not the language of communication with the Centre, separatist tendencies are raising their heads in this region. That is why, it becomes the responsibility of the Centre to include the regional languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, to create harmony in the country.