Hindi imposition amounts to discrimination based on language which is in violation of Art. 14 of the constitution.
Why not the political parties like DMK or NTK approach the Supreme Court for striking down the policy?
Article
15 of Constitution says
15.
Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place
of birth
(1) The
State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion,
race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them
DID
YOU NOTICE THAT ‘LANGUAGE’ IS OMITTED? Why?
LHR -Linguistic Human Rights is a major area of global
judicial activism .Linguistic human rights (LHRs) are analysed as one type of
human right, reflecting an inalienable norm Rights are needed for speakers of
dominated languages, who individually and collectively experience linguistic
‘wrongs’, marginalization, and ultimately the extinction of the languages.
Wikipedia
says
”Individual
linguistic rights are provided for in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
- Article
2 – all individuals are entitled to the rights declared without
discrimination based on language.
- Article
10 – individuals are entitled to a fair trial, and this is generally
recognized to involve the right to an interpreter if an individual does
not understand the language used in criminal court proceedings, or in a
criminal accusation. The individual has the right to have the interpreter
translate the proceedings, including court documents.
- Article
19 – individuals have the right to freedom
of expression, including the right to choose any language as the
medium of expression.
- Article
26 – everyone has the right
to education, with relevance to the language of medium of
instruction.’
Article 15 of Indian Constitution says:
15.
Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place
of birth
(1) The
State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion,
race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them
(2) No
citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or
any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition
with regard to
(a) access
to shops, public restaurants, hotels and palaces of public entertainment; or
(b) the
use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort
maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the
general public
(3) Nothing
in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for
women and children
(4) Nothing
in this article or in clause ( 2 ) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from
making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and
educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes
It is strange that the term ‘language’is omitted in Art 15,thus
violating Art 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Art
2 of UDHR says’
- Article
2 – all individuals are entitled to the rights declared without
discrimination based on language.’
So
it is imperative that the term ‘language’ is also included by a Constitutional
amendment.However,let us be clear that absence of the term’language’ DOES NOT
PERMIT THE STATE TO DISCRIMINATE CITIZENS BASED ON ‘LANGUAGE’.This inference is
based on a cardinal rule of interpretation of statutes called ‘ejus dem
generis’which means
“ejusdem generis. (eh-youse-dem generous) adj. Latin for
"of the same kind," used to interpret loosely written statutes. Where
a law lists specific classes of persons or things and then refers to them in
general, the general statements only apply to the same kind of persons or
things specifically listed.”
So,though
the term’language’ is not specified,it shall be ‘deemed’ to be included in the
list of ‘same kind’.However,this needs to be tested in Supreme Court by a
petition.
In
these days of offensive Hindi imposition by the Centre over unwilling non-Hindi
citizens ,some one affected should be filing soon a petition on this kind of discrimination
based on ‘language’under Art 15 to get things straight.
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