PPFA bats for Sanskrit as national language

Dec. 19: Patriotic People’s Front Assam (PPFA) welcomes a recent petition filed in the Supreme Court of India demanding to declare Sanskrit as the national language. The forum of nationalists in northeast India argues that the initiative would also help promoting the national integration in a far better way. The petitioner, KC Vanzara, a former bureaucrat turned advocate, urged the apex court to direct the Union government in New Delhi to notify Sanskrit as the national language of India keeping Hindi as its official language.

Lately many European nations have shown interests in nurturing the ancient language of India and some are even offering courses on Sanskrit literature in educational institutions. Days back, India-based senior French journalist and scholar Francois Gautier, while participating at a video-conference with city scribes, argued that Indian people should revive Sanskrit as the Israelis did their Hebrew language, because it could revitalize the whole Indian culture and unify the country like never before. Israel in 1948 made its ancient language Hebrew, then considered as a dead language for the last 2000 years, the official language.

Gautier also appealed to the government to invite a group of dedicated linguists to sit down with Sanskrit scholars to devise a way of simplifying and modernizing the mother of all Indian languages.  He pointed out that Israeli people after getting a part of their holy land started welcoming Jews from various parts of the world. As they came back to live in Israel a major problem was aroused because they spoke different languages. Then the Israeli authorities asked their scholars to revive the Hebrew language so that everybody could use it comfortably.

“Sanskrit as a national language in India is a very much logical expectation. Only a few people may know that the Devabhasa was the official language in the region since the days of majestic Kamrup kingdom till the Ahom era,” said a PPFA statement adding that various written documents from the days of great Ahom king Rudra Singha and others undoubtedly proves the royal recognition to the sacred language of Hinduism.