Despite the Supreme Court endorsing linguistic secularism and protecting the right to choose language, the National Education Policy remains controversial. Critics argue it may impose Hindi over regional tongues. Constitutional guarantees and landmark judgments emphasize organic language evolution, local autonomy, and democratic pluralism to preserve India’s rich, diverse linguistic heritage.
The Supreme Court's tilt towards "linguistic secularism" hasn't stopped the language debate over the National Education Policy.
Linguistic secularism is the principle of accepting and protecting the legitimate aspirations of speakers of different languages.
It emphasises the significance of preserving and accommodating linguistic diversity through flexible language policies, instead of imposing a single language on all citizens.
U.P. Hindi Sahittya Sammelan v/s State Of U.P. (2014)
The Supreme Court stated that linguistic secularism is necessary to maintain harmony in a multilingual country like India.
The judgment highlighted that language development in India is organic, meaning it grows naturally through the interactions and needs of its speakers rather than being imposed from above.
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