The Linguistic policy should not be driven by a politics of identity

Every day some languages are dying out, others are spreading its influence around. To believe that
it's a natural development of a language is absurd because the decision on a language destiny (to
develop or go extinct) is determined by the political, economic and social conjunctions of an area.
Language politics is the way language and linguistic differences between peoples are dealt with in
the political arena. This could manifest as government recognition, as well as how language is
treated in official capacities. Some example - Legal status of a language; Hindi as an official language
of the country, state, or other jurisdiction. This generally means that all official documents affecting
our country or region are published in the official language(s), but not in those that are not. Evidence
in a court of law may also be expected to be presented in an official language.
Throughout the world, language is a major market of human identity – so much so that in places
such as Europe, nations and language communities – such as the French, Germans and Poles – are
seen as synonymous. While not as salient in India, here too, language has played a major part in the
country’s politics.
Colonial era
The first language controversy in the subcontinent emerged in Uttar Pradesh in the 19th century as a
section of Hindus sought to replace Urdu – till then the language of administration along with English
– with Hindi. As part of this politics, “Urdu and Hindi became proxies for Muslim and Hindu –
political mobilisation,”