anti-hindi protests madras

8/6/2019 Anti-hindi Protests Madras

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The Madras Anti-Hindi Agitation, 1965: Political Protest and its Effects on Language Policy inIndiaAuthor(s): Duncan B. ForresterSource: Pacific Affairs, Vol. 39, No. 1/2 (Spring - Summer, 1966), pp. 19-36Published by: Pacific Affairs, University of British ColumbiaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2755179 .

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TheMadrasAnti-Hindigitation,965:Politicalrotestnd tsEffectsnLanguageolicynIndiaDuncanB. Forrester

ANUARY 26, i965, thefifteenthnniversaryf thecoming nto force f the.JConstitutionf India,markedthe end of theperiod n whichEnglishrather hanHindi could, ccording o theterms f theConstitution,e usedfor all officialurposes.' n spite ofmanyeffortso assure thenon-Hindi-speakingpeopleof India thatthechange-overo Hindi would notbe pre-cipitate nd thattheir egitimatenterests ould be safeguarded,herewasmuchalarm n thenon-Hindi reas, eading to bitter gitation nd violentprotest,articularlyn the StateofMadras.No agitation fsimilarntensityand scalehad everbefore eenknown nMadras, nd itdemonstratedeep-seateddissatisfactionith thelanguage policyoftheGovernmentf Indiaand themounting trength f somenew politicalforces. his article on-centratesn theagitation n Madras State and theresponseo it on thepartofIndianpolicy-makers.ts purpose s to throw ome ight n the dynamics1 The paper s basedon personal bservationf theagitation n Madrascity;on conversa-tionswith ndividualsnvolved n bothsidesof thedispute; nd on a careful nalysis f theIndianpressduring herelevant eriod,particularlyhe Hindu (Madras) whichgave a veryfullcoverage f theevents.Among other tudieswhichshould be consulted orfurther etailsof thecourseof events re Robert . Hardgrave,Jr., The Riots n Tamilnad:Problems ndProspects fIndia'sLanguageCrisis,"AsianSurvey, ol. V, No. 8, August,965, pp. 399-407,and MichaelBrecher, uccession n India, London, i966, pp. i51-67. Hardgrave gives anaccount f theagitation s seenfromMaduraibut is notmuchconcernedwiththe reconsid-erationof languagepolicyby governmentnd the complicated hain reaction n stateandnationalpolitics.These subjects re takenup in more detailby Brecherwhose studyof thedecision-makingrocess s illuminatingn spiteof one or two doubtfuludgements. hus, herepeats he tale that the constitutionalrovisionsmakingHindi the officialanguagewereapprovedby only one vote in the Constituent ssembly n I949 (p. I52). This is withoutfoundation,lthough t is truethatDr. Ambedkar eportedhat t a meeting f theCongress

members f theAssemblyt was decided by a majority f one thattheparty houldsupporttheprovisionselating oHindiwhenthese ome to be debated See Hugh Tinker, ndia andPakistan:A PoliticalAnalysis,New York, i963, p. I33; A. K. Majumdar,The ProblemofHindi: A Study,Bombay,965, pp. 35-57; GranvilleAustin, he IndianConstitution:orner-stoneof a Nation,Oxford, 966, ch. I2, esp. pp. 299-300). It is also misleading f Brecherto suggest hat the agitation egan withtheself-immolationf two DMK workersp. I56).The student gitationwas alreadyunderway on January5. And to cite "foreign bservers"as saying hattherewere5oo deaths n thecourse f theagitation s to givecurrencyo com-pletely nsubstantiatedumors.I9


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Pacific flairsofprotestnd he rocessf djustmentetweenublicpinionndofficialpolicyn modernndia.Languagegitationn ndias no new hingndhas xercisedonsider-able nfluencever ationalolicyincendependence.ationaleaders ayoften avedeploredhe ntensemotionshich omplicatell considera-tion f uestionsf anguageolicy,ut long eriesf oncessionsopopu-lar agitationastendedoencourageurthergitationmong hosewhofeel hat ome articularolicyhreatensheirnterests.ost reviousan-guage gitation,owever,oncernedhe ettingp of inguistictates;heMadrasgitationifferednthatt nvolvedhe uestionf he fficialan-guage obe used ygovernmentndonlyo a veryminorxtent asthestatusfTamiln question.ot he rotectionfTamil ut he uturefTamiliansn a nation ithHindi s itsofficialanguage as ndoubt.Hindihadbeen uggesteds themost uitablefficialanguageor heIndian nionfterndependencey heMotilal ehru eportf 928. TheConstitutionays own hathe fficialanguagef heUnionhall eHindiinDevanagaricriptndfurther,hat Itshall e the utyf heUnionopromotehe preadf heHindi anguage,odevelopt othattmay erveas a mediumfexpressionor ll the lementsfthe ompositeulturefIndia, nd o ecurets nrichmenty ssimilatingithoutnterferingithits eniushe orms,tyle,nd xpressionsed n Hindustanind he therlanguagesf ndia ndbydrawing,heneverecessaryrdesirable,ortsvocabulary,rimarilyn Sanskritnd secondarilyn otheranguages."2English,owever,as ocontinues the econd fficialanguageor pe-riod ffifteenearsnd ongerfParliamento decided.nOfficialan-guage ommissionppointednderhe ermsf he onstitutionn 955 toreviewhe ituationupportedindi s the ole fficialanguagelthoughmembersromengalndMadras issentednfavourf nglish.Inpractice,n the tate overnmentsnd egislatures,he egionalan-guage s now sed ormost urposes,lthoughuthoritativeextsre ftenstill nEnglish.n theUnion arliament,nglishs still sedmore hanHindi ndregionalanguagesarely ake n appearance.dministrationatthehigherevels asbeen lmostntirelyn English,ndEnglishs themainlinkanguage"or ommunicationetweenhe tates.nglishemainstheanguagef ommercend s still enerallyhemediumor igherdu-cation,articularlyn scientificubjects.ll over ndia, nglishemains"prestigeanguage,"lthoughn some reas, articularlyn northndia,theres trongnti-Englisheeling.Accordingo the 96i Census,3652 languages rdialects respokennIndia.Out of a total opulationf439million,33.4millionwere ecorded

2 ConstitutionfIndia,Article 51.8 Figures aken romndia-A Referencennual:1965.

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TheMadras nti-Hindigitation,965as speakers fHindi. Therearethus onsiderably oreHindi speakers hanspeakers fanyother ingle anguage n Indiabutthey re still minorityfthe totalpopulation.Tamil-the languageof Madras State-is spokenby30.6million nd, ftheprincipal ognateDravidian anguages Tamil, Tel-ugu,Malayalam,Kannada) are takentogether,here re 02.7 millionwhospeak a Dravidianrather hanan Indo-Europeananguage. Veryfew In-dians have English as theirmothertongue but of the 30 millionwhoknow two languages"a littlemore than elevenmillion"4know Englishwhile9.36millionhaveHindi as a second anguage.Onlya tinyminorityfa littleunderthreepercentknow Englishand even where knowledgeofEnglish s highest,5t nowhere xceedsfivepercent. his smallminority,however, s fairly venly pread throughouthe countrywhereas here relarge areas of India outsidethe "Hindi heartland"where the numberofHindi speakerss very owindeed.6This even spreadof the English-knowinglite is one argument om-monlyused in favour f theretention f English,for t is argued that al-though o fewspeakEnglish, t alone is capable of serving s a "link lan-guage" whichcan guarantee he politicalunity f India. But probably hemore ffectivergument f theprotagonistsfEnglish s that he mpositionof Hindi would give a major advantage n terms f job and educationalpossibilitiesothosewho haveHindi as theirmother ongue.The Constitutionaid downwhat s in effect program or hedevelop-mentofHindi and thereplacementf English withinfifteen ears-an in-crediblyrief eriodfor linguistic evolutiono complicated.n pursuanceof thisaim the Chief Ministers f the various states dopted n i961 the"Three-language ormula,"according o whichbothEnglish and Hindiwere to be used as linklanguages nd taught n schoolsthroughoutndiaindefinitely,hiletheregionalanguagewas tobe themedium n educationand state nd local administration.n effecthis meant two languagesfortheHindi-speakingtates nd three orthe others.An ambitious amilian,for nstance, ouldhaveto earnthreeanguages nd three ntirelyifferentscriptsnd someIndian childrenwould facethetaskof learning our an-guages: theirmother ongue, heregional anguage,English, nd Hindi.7The Three-languageormula thereforemposes great ducational urden,particularlyn thepeopleofthenon-Hindi tates. urthermore,t s a policyand not a statute,nd the moreardentprotagonistsfHindi have beenin-

4These and thefollowing iguresre cited from heCensus of India, i96i by theSecre-tary ftheEducation ommission.heHindu,July , i965.5Bengal: 4.6%; Kerala: 4.4%; Punjab: 4.2%; and Madras:4.I%. Cf. S. MohanKumara-mangalam:ndia'sLanguageCrisis,Madras, 965,pp. 8o-8i6Mysore: .28%; Andhra:.2I%; Kerala: .2i%; Madras: .20%. Citedn TheHindu,July , I 965.7 See R. B. Le Page, The NationalLanguageQuestion:Linguistic roblems f Newly n-dependenttates, ondon, 1964,p. 57.

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Pacific ffairssistinghat he onstitution'sifteenears' rotectionoEnglishhouldotbeextended,ndthat nglishhoulde eliminatedsquicklys possible.Suchmoveseriouslylarmedhenon-Hindipeakersecauseheyeemedto confern unfairdvantagen theHindi peakersftheNorth. awa-harlal ehru'sssurancen 959 that indiwould evere mposednthenon-Hindireaswithoutheironsentnd tsreaffirmationyShastriidnot ut uch earsorest.The programmefHindi-izationaid downnChapterVII of theConstitutionn elaborateetail asnot,ndcould othave een,arriedthroughn fifteenears. ccordinglyn i963 an Officialanguagesct(No. i9 of 963) waspassed,making ossiblehe ontinuedsed fEnglishinpolitics,dministration,nd he ourtsotht he entrend n hetates.Section of theAct tateshat the nglishanguage ay,s fromheappointeday,ontinueobeused,nadditionoHindi,"or llofficialur-posesndfor ransactionsnParliament.hisdoesnot, fcourse,alt heprocessf Hindi-ization,t merely akes ossiblebutnot bligatory)slowingown f hat rocessndnon-Hindipeakerselt hattfell hortofgivingtatutoryorceoMr.Nehru's erbal uarantee.ccordinglytfailed ocalm he earsfthenon-Hinditates,hich ecamevenmoreacutewith hedeath f PanditNehru n May, 964.His successor,al Ba-hadurhastri,asnot rustedsNehruad een.TheDravidiananguagesf he outh,articularlyamil,rehighlye-velopedanguagesith classicaliteratureomparableith hatnSan-skrit.hiscenturyasseen major evivalfTamil ulturehich asmanifestedtselfnan intensivefforto purifyheTamil anguagefallSanskriticnfluence.ulturalenaissanceas edtoa growingelf-confi-dence, new warenessf a distinctamiliandentity,nd a deepeningsuspicionf allthingsorthern.nti-Brahminismnd a rejectionftra-ditional induisms an importromheNorth avefoundrdentx-ponents.here ave eenwidespreadrotestsgainsthe ndustrialom-inance f the North,nd an attitudef Tamil chauvinismas beengenerated.hesefeelingsoundheirirstoliticalxpressionn the ldJusticearty,hich iewed ritishule sthe nlylternativeoBrahmindominance;hennthe ccentric. V.Ramaswamyaicker'self-RespectMovement;ndfinallyn theDravidaMunnetraazhagamrDMK(Dravidianrogressiveederation),partyarticularlynfluentialmongstudents,hich asuntilecentlyxplicitlyommittedothe ettingp ofan ndependentravidiantaten outhndia.8Tamilnationalismithertoas eldomxpressedtselfn violence.oth

8 Usefulbackgroundmaterial s to be found n P. D. Devanandan,The DravidaKazhagam,Bangalore,960; RobertL. Hardgrave, he DravidianMovement, ombay, 965; RobertL.Hardgrave, The DMK and thePolitics f Tamil Nationalism," acificAffairs, ol. XXXVII,No. 4, x964-65;and Lloyd I. Rudolph, Urban Life and PopulistRadialism:DravidianPoli-tics n Madras,"Journal f Asian Studies,Vol. XX, No. 3, May i96i, pp. 283-97.22


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TheMadrasAnti-Hindi gitation,965under heBritishnd n ndependentndia heTamilians avehada some-what rivilegedosition,artlyn account f heir eputationor ardwork,which asmade hemmuch oughtfters labour, artly ecausehe tand-ardof ducationndknowledgefEnglish ave een omewhatigherhanelsewherend consequentlyamilians ave secured large hare f ap-pointmentsn governmentervicend education.9erhaps ecause f this,Tamil inguisticeeling as never urned gainst nglish,s hashappenedin other arts f ndia.English,o far rom eing threatoTamil, sthetoolTamilians sefor he dvancementnd protectionftheirnterests.c-cordinglyhere as beenvery ittle ressureo replace nglish s theme-diumof higher ducationn Tamilnad, nd it required nly he sugges-tion hat nglish as to be replaced yHindito provoke violentlydversereaction,articularlymong tudentsut also among he lliterate asses.Thosewhose ersonalnterestsouldbe completelynaffectedy changeof officialanguage ould asily e persuadedo see Hindi mperialism'spartof a larger lotby theNorth o dominateheSouth ulturally,co-nomically,nd politically.tudents,awyers,nd businessmen,ndeed heMadrasmiddle lassgenerally,ee theirnterestss tied o the ontinuanceof English s the anguage fgovernmentnd thecourts nd,morepar-ticularly,s themedium or he Union PublicService ommissionom-petitive xaminations.orthernersnd Southernerstart rom he samepoint n English; he ntroductionf Hindi would mpose serious andi-caponthose orwhom t s not hemotherongue.The DMK hasgrown onsiderablyn influencen recent ears.n I957itwonthirteenutof twohundrednd five eats n theMadras egislativeAssembly;n 962 it ncreasedts trengthofiftyeats. heDMK also on-trols heMadrasCorporationnd a number f other mportantowns. npolicy nd strategyhe DMK has made someremarkableolte-faces,utithasbeen onsistentlyeeplynvolvednprotestsgainst indi.In late 964 twothingsnparticularroused ncemore heold fears f"Hindi imperialism."larmat officialressureo replace nglishwithHindi as speedilys possible rewas RepublicDay, January6, i965,approached. either he OfficialanguagesAct i963, norMr. Nehru'sassurancesf 959,frequentlyeiteratedyhim ndbyothereaders, ereadequate o convince heSouth hat tsposition ouldnot be grievouslyweakenedwhen heconstitutionalrotectionor he tatus fEnglish x-pired.And well-publicizedoves o ntroduce indias an alternativee-dium oEnglishor heUnion ublic ervicesxaminationn 965 seemedo

9From 948-I962 Madras State filled higher roportionf places n the Indian Admin-istrative ervices through ompetitivexaminations han any otherstate. Madras produced23.3 percent f the totalentry.Next came U.P. with i6.5 percent, unjab with 2 percent,and Delhi with 7.8 percent. ote thatduring hatperiodthearea of the state hrunk hroughrearrangementf boundaries.n spiteof this,Madrascontinues o be a leader n thenumberof places ecured. ee The Hindu, April8, I963.23


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PacificAffairsconfirm he worst ears f the Tamilians.Nothing ould convince hem hatignorance f Hindi would not prove a serious bar to appointment ndpromotion n government ervice nd that from 965 the Hindi-speakerswouldnotholda highly rivileged ositionnIndia.The DMK seized upon thesefears s a very onvenient eapon againstthe Tamilnad CongressParty,whichhas made hardly cheep of protestagainst heofficialanguagepolicy ndhasinsisted hat herewas no groundfor larm.A Madras StateAnti-HindiConference, eld at Tiruchirapalli nJanuary7, i965, was largely nspired y DMK, but was also attended yrepresentativesf most of the otheropposition arties nd supported ysome wealthyTamilian industrialists. arm popular support ncouragedthe Conference o declareRepublic Day a "Day of Mourning" n protestagainst heexpiry f constitutionalrotectionorEnglish.10n the shortJan-uary session of the Madras legislature, ppositionmemberspressed theGovernments hard as possible n the anguage ssue but the Madras Gov-ernmentmade it clear that t was not concerned o seek an alteration f thenational anguage policy nd that twould permitno "mourning" r anti-Hindi agitationon Republic Day. The Government osition was thatnothing ubstantive ould be changed n January 6, and to observemourn-ing on such national estival ouldbe tantamounto subversion.1'The stagewas now setfor onflict etween heCongressGovernment fMadras and a popularmovemented by the chief pposition arty. ut thescale nd thedevelopmentf the onflict ere nticipated ynone.The DMK announced n January4, i965, that t would defy hegov-ernment an on demonstrationsn Republic Day. The agitation, owever,started nexpectedlyhe following ay and was mainlythe work of stu-dents.The Congress fficesn Maduraiwere stoned nd some students ereinjured n a police athichargeand in brawls withCongressworkers.nMadras,Hindi books wereburnt n the beachand a largegatheringf stu-dentsmarched otheSecretariato demand constitutionalmendmentro-tectingheposition fEnglish. n theearlymorning fJanuary6, C. N.Annaduraiand about a hundred nd fifty ther DMK leaderswere ar-rested.As a consequence, he mourningmeetings nd processions lannedbytheparty idnot takeplacebutagitation mongstudentsontinued ndthepoliceusedteargas at Pachaiyappa's ollege n Madras.On January7,in the earlymorning, hepoliceraidedhostels t a numberof colleges nMadras and arrested tudent eaders. t is alleged thattherewas a gooddeal of indiscriminateeating-up f students,which inflamed he situ-ationconsiderably.'2n AnnamalaiUniversity,outhofMadras,thepolice

10The Hindu, January8, i965 and S. MohanKumaramangalam,p. cit.,pp. 84-86.11TheHindu,January3 and 24, i965.12 This statements based on eye-witnessccounts.Protests gainstpolice excesses atercamefrom t leasttwo collegeprincipalsnd somedoctors.24it


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TheMadras nti-Hindigitation,965opened fire nd a studentwas killed.Two DMK supportersurned hem-selvesto death-a mode of protest ovel to India-and a furtherne hun-dred and tenDMK leaderswere arrested. ll collegeswere closedbyorderof theGovernmentnd theChiefMinister efusedven to meet delegationof students.13rime Minister Shastri's tatementsalling for a quickerchange-overo Hindi and sternmeasures gainstthe agitators id not im-provethesituation. he Prime Minister ave no hintof a changeof policyandhis earlier emarkn a speech t Santiniketann December 3, i964 thatto seektoretain nglishfor ll time s the officialanguageofIndia "seemsto me a deeplyhumiliatingroposition"tillrankled.14 n January9 therewas another eath n policefiringn Palayamkottaind another MK sup-porter illedhimselfnprotest gainst Hindi imperialism"-thisimeusingbug poison.The first ave of the agitationwas nowover, nd therewas rel-ativebutuneasy alm n MadrasStatefor bout week.On February thecollegesreopenedbut the vast majority f the stu-dents emained n strikend theagitation esumedwith ncreased orce.Nolongerwas it limited o students nd activeDMK supporters;t seemedtohave become a popular movement nd now advantage was sometimestaken of the disturbed onditions o settle ld scores gainstthepolice. nCoimbatore herewas a completehartal generalstrike), rainswere stop-ped, and in manyplacestherewerepolice/athi-charges.n Februaryo thepolice firedn seven places,twenty-foureople were killed and twenty-fiveinjured.Two police sub-inspectorsere burnt live by an enragedmob inTiruppur.On the eleventh, nce again therewas police firingn severalplaces.The Prime Minister roadcast o the nation, eaffirmingnce morethattherewould be no imposition f Hindi. T. T. Krishnamachari,heUnion Minister f Finance and himself Tamilian,broadcast n Tamilsaying hat heagitationwas unnecessarys Tamilianministersuch as him-self nd C. SubramaniamMinister f Food) would look after he nterestsof theSouth. ronicallynough, t was at almost hesame time n Delhi thatSubramaniam nd a juniorminister romMadras,0. V. Alagesan,handedin theirresignationso the PrimeMinister n protest gainstthe Govern-ment'sanguagepolicy s expressednthePrimeMinister's roadcast.On February 2 therewas completehartal throughoutMadras State.Twentypeoplewere killed n policefiringn elevenplaces.The situationwas now obviously ut of control nd policeand troopswere broughtntoMadras in largenumbers rom ther tates. ifteenpeoplewere shotdeadon February3, making n officialotalof sixty-sixeaths n the courseoftheagitation."5fter notherongclosure olleges eopened gainon March8. For a weekattempts eremadetoresume heagitation, ut by March 5

13 The Hindu,January8, I965.14 The Hindu,December 4, I964.15 Rumours utthe otal onsiderablyigher. heHindu,February5, i965.25


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Pacificffairsmost olleges ereworkingormally.heagitationadrun tscourse,but hehocknd hecarsemained.The agitationemonstratedpoor evelof communicationetweengovernmentndpeople. eitherheGovernmentfMadras or heGov-ernmentf ndia eem ohave ssessedorrectlyhe ntensityfpopularfeelingntheanguagessuenthe outh. o no seriousttemptasmadeprioro he gitationitheromodifyheanguageolicyr opresentt na more avourableight o the eoplefMadras ndthe theron-Hindistates.heobviousnpreparednessfgovernmentor nagitationnthisscale emonstrateshattwas akeny urprise;nd he xtremelyacillat-ing nduncertainandlingf he evelopingrisishowshenadequacyfofficialnderstandingf hetatef ublicpinion.Languageolicy asdiscussedtthe hief inisters'eetingnDecem-ber964,buttdoes ot eem hatnywarningotewasheard.heMadrasChiefMinister,n hisreturnromhismeeting,aid hat he nterestsfTamilnadould ot uffer.16outherninistersnthe entralovernmentkept uiet ntilhe gitationaswellunder ay,ndeven heAll-IndiaCongressresident,umaraswamyamaraj,Tamilianf heTamilians,was pparentlyakenbackndhesitatedo how ishand. ongressartychannelsonveyedowarningfthempendingxplosionndCongress-menmade oefforto verttby onciliatorytatementsrmodificationfpolicy.It wouldeem hatheMadras overnmentelievedhathe gitationwasbeing hippedp by he MKandhadnosubstantialopularase.'7Promptndtoughctiongainsthe oreeadershipftheDMK couldthereforeeexpectedonip he roublenthe ud, ndpossiblyermanentlycripplehe hiefppositionartynthe rocess.uch policyxplainsheMadrasGovernment'sefusaloallow nydemonstrationst all onRe-publicay, hemassrrestsfDMKleaders,he arlymorningrrestsndbeatings-upncollegeostels,nd heChiefMinister'sefusalomeet iththe eadersf hetudentgitation.TheMadras overnment'sttemptsodealwith he ituationy adicalmeasuresuringhe irsthreeayswere ased nfundamentalisunder-standingf hentensitynd cale fpopularissatisfaction,nd ontributedagreat eal o nflamehemassesf he eople. hentbecamebvioushattheGovernment'snitialalculationserewide f hemark,hereolloweda secondtagenwhichathermprobablexplanationsf he orcestworkwere andiedroundnofficialuarters.twassuggestedhat heLeftWing f heCommunistartywhichsvery eaknTamilnad) asbe-hind he gitation,rthatomewealthy ill-owners,rdissidentollege

16 The Hindu,December 6, I964.17 Statementsy theChiefMinisternd variousministersn theLegislativeAssembly,e-portedn The Hindu,January3 and 24, i965.26


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TheMadras nti-Hindigitation,965teachers,adnstigatedherouble.'8tno tage as t dmittedhathegi-tationrose rom relativelypontaneousutburstfpopularesentment.TheUnion overnmentpparentlyelievedhat hewholegitationasbased n"misunderstanding"f he fficialanguageolicy.19heattemptsofLalBahadurhastri,. L. Nanda HomeMinister),ndT. T. Krish-namachario xplainheGovernment'standmade ittle,f ny,mpressiononpublicpinionn Madras, hich asdemandingoncessions,ot lari-fications.ad thesetatementseenmade arlier,heymight avehelpedtoease he ituationutbyFebruaryi the gitationadbecome massmovementithonsiderablempetus,eeplyistrustfulf heGovernmentonaccountfpolice ehaviourn the arlytages. hen heGovernmentofMadrasnd heGovernmentf ndia ecidedhat etterommunicationwasnecessaryt was lreadyoo ate. nly ecisivectionrclear ndun-equivocalromisesomodifyolicyould avemendedhe ituationo ateinthe ay.Whywascommunicationo poor etweenovernmentndpeople?ntheory,tateegislaturesndParliamentnDelhi houldonvey opularfeelingo theGovernment.ut n bothMadras nd Delhi heCongressParty adoverwhelmingajoritiesndparty isciplineends o bottlepcriticismromheCongressenches.ongressPs andMLAsarereluc-tant ochallengeovernmentven n ssues here eelingsstrongn theirconstituencies.n thedebaten languageolicyn Parliamentn Feb-ruary8,fornstance,o Congress P from adraspoke,ndduringheBudget ession f theMadras egislativessemblytartingn March,hardlycriticalotewasheardrom ongressLAs. othnDelhi nd nMadrasheOppositionasvery ocal, ut t ssmall nddividednd hereislittleosuggesthat overnmentistensarefullyooppositionriticism;toooften,adical riticisms dismisseds subversivendCongressov-ernmentsrenot bove ttemptingointimidatenwelcomepponents.Again,t sgenerallyrue hat ongressovernmentsnthe tatesremoreresponsiveothe entralrgansfthe artyhan opublicpinion ithintheirwn tate. any tateovernmentsremore he reaturesf heCon-gressarliamentaryoardhan fthe tateegislature,ndmore nswer-able otheCongressighCommandn Delhi han o ocal pinion.hestateovernment,ndparticularlyheChiefMinister,s the rincipalhan-nelfor onveyingnformationbout onditionsithinhe tate o Delhi.

18Statement f the ChiefMinister,eportedn The Hindu, February , I965. ChiefMin-ister o TamilnadCongress ommittee, he Hindu, June i, i965. See also The Hindu, Feb-ruary4, i965. cf.Brecher: p. cit.,p. I59.19Mr. Nanda felttheagitationwas "based on grossmisunderstanding."he Hindu,Jan-uary28, I965. Lal BahadurShastri uggestedhatthosewho opposedHindi mustunderstandthatwhatgovernment as doing was in pursuance f theDirective rinciples f the Constitu-tion. bid. See also the MadrasChiefMinister'statementt Vellorereported n The Hindu,January6, i965.27


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Pacific flairsBut n thisnstance,s inmany thers,he tate overnmenthowedtselfincapablefpresentingnaccurateicturef he ituationoDelhi.When heUnionGovernmentealizedhat thad beendrastically is-informedbouthappeningsnMadras, tmade ittle ffortoremedyhesituation. o top-rankinginister as sent o Madras o nvestigate,xceptT. T. Krishnamachari,imself Tamilian.Mrs. ndiraGandhi ameonFebruary2, onher wn nitiative,ndher nvestigationsnd reports ererealisticndbalanced. hisbold ction emindedeople hat he s oneofthefewpoliticaleaders n India trustedy thewholenation,nd itwascertainlyotforgottenhen successoroShastri adtobe selected.elhiis, ofcourse, ithinheHindiarea and it is easyfor heprotagonistsfHindito bring irect ressureo bear ntheUnionGovernment.t is farless asy n presentircumstancesor heCentre oassess he xtentnd n-tensityf feelingn areasremote rom elhi. But no seriousttempt asmade tany tage o do this.ThetragedyftheMadras gitations a tragedyoocommonnmodernIndia. t s only fter iolenceasrun ts ourse hat ommunicationnd ne-gotiationecomeossible. heoutbreakfviolentrotests a sign hat om-municationasbroken own.But fcommunications resumeds a conces-sion toviolence,iolence ecomes normal nd efficaciousnstrumentfpoliticalressure.20There s nodoubt hat he nitialmpetusnd much fthe eadershipfthe gitationame rom heDMK party.ut t s alsotrue hat trong eel-ing on the anguagessuewasnot imitedo DMK supporters.MK at-temptedomanipulatelreadyxistingmotionsndhead up a broad l-liance fanti-Congressorces,ut he gitationuickly assed utofDMKcontrolnd theresmuch osuggesthatDMK leaders ltimatelyecameextremelylarmed y whatwashappening. ther arties id notgive asactive lead as DMK, althoughheveteran . Rajagopalachari,he eaderofthe onservativewatantraarty, adfor ongbeen ssailingheofficiallanguage olicy nd gaveactive upporto theagitation. he SwatantraParty s such, owever, asnot ommittedo anypolicy n the anguages-sueandfewotherwatantra emberseem ohavebeen ctiveeadersnthedisturbances.he LeftCommunistsere ccused f nstigatingrouble,but his artysasweak nMadras sit sstrongnKerala,ndtheres cer-tainlyittlen such tories. uchofthe upportor he gitation,ndsomeof the eadership,asnon-party.numberfpublic igures,articularly

20 On political rotest n India see MyronWeiner,The Politics f Scarcity, ombay, 963,especially haps. , 7, & 8. Also David H. Bayley, The Pedagogyof Democracy:CoercivePublic Protestn India," American olitical cienceReview,Vol. LVI, No. 3, September962,pp. 663ff; nd RichardLambert, Some Consequences f Segmentationn India," EconomicDevelopmentnd Cultural hange, ol. i2, No. 4, July964, pp. 406-24.28


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TheMadrasAnti-Hindi gitation,965educationistsnd lawyers,were publicly ympathetic.21inance fortheagi-tation came frommany sourcesand studentgroups were able to collectconsiderable umsfromthe public. Certainwealthy ndustrialistsertainlysupportedheagitation rom hebeginninglthough recher robablyxag-gerateswhen he says some anti-Congress ill-owners . . financed he stu-dents' gitation."22he impression ained at the timeby the presentwriterwas that herewas no substantial mountof finance ehindthestudent r-ganization nd thateach unit and districtwas leftto raise whatfunds tneeded.It is also clear thatthe agitation uicklydeveloped ts own impetus ndorganization nd finally assed completelyut of control. he DMK insti-gated the protest; s a resultof harsh police and governmentction, heagitation ecame spontaneous nd almostuniversalmovementmong stu-dents; finally, he mob took over and all restraint as lost. This in itselfwas highly nusual,forMadras does notboast a large number f goondasorprofessional obsterss does Bengal. n other arts f India political is-turbances requentlytart mong students. his is, however, eryrare inMadras State,where he University as a reputation orgood disciplinendstudents ave ngeneralheld alooffrom olitics nd allowedpoliticiansittleinfluencen colleges.The DMK, however, as developed great ppeal forstudents, artly s a result f Tamil chauvinism, artly ecauseMadras stu-dents ee a change-overo Hindi as a serious hreat o their rospects.Organizationwas rudimentary.he appealsof the January nti-HindiConferencen Tiruchirapallind of theDMK for mourning nd protestfound ready cho among students. ut a student rganizationo guidetheagitation nly sprangup on January 7, bywhichtimethe principal MKleaderswere alreadybehind bars. This was called the Tamilnad Students'Anti-HindiAgitationCouncil, nd although ased on Madras City t veryrapidly stablished ontactswith most of the colleges n the state. n themajorityf collegesAction Committeeswereformed.Many-but notall-of thestudent eadershad no connectionwith DMK, and DMK was notabletodominate he organization s is demonstratedythestudents'efusalto return o classes nd call off he agitationven whenrequested ythetopleadersof DMK. Before he end of the agitation hepolicehad effectivelyinfiltratednd temporarilyroken p suchorganization s therewas, but bythis imematters ad passedout of controlnanycase.

For the first ew days of the agitation herewas littleviolence.The stu-dents abstained fromclasses,took out processions, urntHindi books,hoisted lackflags, arredHindi signboards,nd chalkedup slogans.There21 For example,Sir A. L. Mudaliar,Vice-Chancellorf Madras University; r. C. P.RamaswamyAiyer,Vice-Chancellorf AnnamalaiUniversity;nd some leadingmembers fthebar.22Brecher,p. cit.,p. i59.

29


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Pacific flairswas a little tone-throwingndfighting,utno large-scaleiolencentilafterhepolice ad resortedostrong-armactics.he state-wideartalonFebruary2 was nresponseo call romhe tudents,ut tmarkshepassingf he gitationut f tudentontrolnd hemob'seizingf heinitiative.Whywere normalonstitutionalhannels"o ittletilized?t sfairosay hatngeneraloone n ndia elieveshat onstitutionalressuresaseffectives violencer the hreatf t. Andthis gitation,ike omanyothersnIndia, llustratesnce gain hat overnmentistensoviolencemoreeadilyhano ess rasticormsfprotest.n the eginningheGov-ernmentfMadras asnotwillingotalk,et lone egotiate,ithtudentleaders.ut nany ase heres littlecope or onstitutionalrotest,ar-ticularlyhen Section44" (prohibitingrocessionsndmeetings)s inforcerduring Nationalmergency.vennormallynnocuous ethodsofprotestecomellegal nd,f usednonetheless,end o escalateuicklyinto iolence.trongction as aken y he overnmentgainstnumberofpopularamil ewspapersndperiodicals.hetherustifiablenthe ir-cumstancesr not, uch ctionsffectivelyaga normalutletor rotest.Petitions,eputations,ndresolutionsere enerallyhoughtobe neffec-tive,nd heres a good eal f videnceosupportuch feeling. ithintheLegislativessembly,ppositiono theofficialanguage olicywasneitherdequatelyoiced or arefullyoted y he overnment,nd t ssignificanthat ery ew eopleuggestedhatt would e helpfulosum-monhe ssemblyuringhegitation.Language olicyn Indiahasbeen orgednheat ndreshapednderpressure.e now onsiderhe esponsefofficialolicymakersotheMad-ras agitation.lthoughurattentionas been ocussedn Madras,tisimportantorememberhat he ressuregainstindi ame romtheri-rectionsswell,nd hatnterestsavourableoHindi reverytronglyn-trenchedroundhe eat f heUnion overnmentnDelhi. he im f heagitationas o nfluencearliamentnd heGovernmentf ndia,23herethe rotagonistsfHindi re nfluential.overnmentolicy asthereforesubjecto countervailingressures.he stronger,mmediate,ndmoreinsistentressureadfor numberfyearsome romhe upportersfHindi;concessionsothis ressureadgraduallyetonatedn unprece-dentedxplosionnMadras;ndnowpolicy-makersere aughtn theawkwardilemmahat othnactionndany onceivableolicyhangewere oundo ead o trongdverseeactionn theNorth r nthe outh.Inthe eginninghe cceptedositionfbothheGovernmentf ndiaandtheGovernmentfMadras asthat here asneitherossibilityor

23 This instance oes not fit well into the pattern ketched ut by RichardLambert, p.cit.Unlikemanyother nstances,his gitationwas notlimited ystateor regionalboundariesandthus t seriouslyhreatenedor timenational olitical quilibrium.30


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TheMadras nti-Hindigitation,965need fa change fpolicy. meetingf theChiefMinistersfthevariousstatesnDelhi,on December3, i964, announcedhat nglishwould on-tinue ntil henon-Hinditates ere eady or change.24t seems hat oministereriouslyuestionedhis ine, nd Mr.Bhaktavatsalam,heChiefMinisterf Madras, n hisreturn rom elhi gave an assurancehat heinterestsfTamilnadwould n no way uffer. hen tbecame lear hat p-position as mountingn intensity,nionand Madras tateministerse-peatedlyuggestedhat uspicionsf theofficialolicywerebased implyon"misunderstandings."25utonemightwell uggesthatmost fthemis-understandingas on thepart fgovernment,hich ookno steps o curbrash and extreme ro-Hinditatementsy people n power, bviouslymiscalculatedhe trengthffeelingn theSouth, ndmade no effortomodifyolicy r presentt in a favourableightprior o theagitation.TheMadrasGovernmenteemedoregard he gitationnthefirstewdays s a providentialpportunityo crush heoppositionnd refusednykindofnegotiation.r. M. Bhaktavatsalamt first efusedomeet tu-denteaders,uggestingt was a matteror olice ction atherhan iscus-sion."This,ofcourse,xacerbatedeelings greatdeal and thestudentsquicklyost onfidencen thegood ntentionsftheGovernmentfMadras.The firstignofwaveringameonFebruary, when he ChiefMinisterannouncedhatwhenHindibecame medium or heUPSC examinations,placeswould e allocatedo thevarioustatesccordingo a quota ystem.27Thisfailed o assuage tudenteeling,ince ny onceivableuotawould e-duce henumberfplaces illed romMadras. clearndicationhat ewasnowbending eforehe tormameonFebruary,whenBhaktavatsalamsaidhe wasnow seeking constitutionalmendmentosecureheplaceofEnglish.28aterhepubliclyejecteds inadequatedraftmendmentftheOfficialanguagesAct which ttemptedo secure hepositionfEnglishuntil hree-quartersf thenon-Hinditates skedforHindi.Bhaktavatsa-lamwantednglishoremain ntil he egislaturesf ll statessked or tsreplacement.29he GovernmentfMadras hereforeoxed he ompass. tthebeginningheyaidthe gitationrose romntirelyaseless ears,utbeforeheendtheywere sking ornothinghort findefiniteonstitu-tionalprotectionorEnglish-exactlyhedemandbehind heagitation.But thechangeswere oo ate and tooreluctant,nd at no timedid theMadrasGovernmentold henitiative.

It was obvious ong before heagitationhat heUnionCabinetwas24 TheHindu,DecemberI4, 964.25 See n. i9 above.26 "The ChiefMinister aid it was purely question f law and order nd therewas noneedforhim to meet he tudents." he Hindu,January8, i965.27 The Hindu, February, i965.28 Ibid., FebruaryO and II, i965.29 Ibid., February9, i965.

3'


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Pacific ffairsdeeplyividedn anguageolicy. inistersame ut penlynboth ides.Mr.Chagla,he ducationinister,ndMr.C.Subramaniam,inisterorFood, xpressedlarm t"Hindi-ization,"hile heHomeMinister,. L.Nanda,nd he rimeMinisterimselfad alled or speeding-upf hechange-overoHindi.Norweremoreuniorministersnymore nitednthe ssue.twas hereforeifficultorheGovernmentf ndia opresentunitedrontnface f rouble.s ate sJanuarythe rime inisterasstill peakingfacceleratingHindi-ization"ndthreateningternctionagainstgitators,anda likeBhaktavatsalam)asproclaiminghat ochange fpolicy as eitheresirablerpossible,hile . Subramaniam,Chagla,nd0. V. Alagesan, inisterfState or etroleumnd Chemi-cals,wereworkingor compromisehich ouldoncedeomef he e-mands fthe gitators.rom he ndofJanuary,anjeeva eddy,nionMinisteror teel ndMines, Telugu,dentifiedimselfith his roup,as didmostministersromhe outh xceptheFinanceMinister,. T.Krishnamacharia Tamilianrahmin),ho eld loof.Individual inistersadewidelyivergenttatementsnHindi s amediumor ompetitivexaminations,r thequota uggestion,nd onmethodsfprotectinghe nterestsfthe outh. anda nd Shastrion-tinuedo ffirmhat he gitationasbasednmisunderstandingntilMrs.Indira andhinnouncedhat he ad ound idespreadndwell-groundedfearsnMadrastate.30 henhe rime inisterroadcastnFebruaryi,heexplainedhe ldpolicyndreaffirmedncemoreNehru'sssurancesthat indiwould ot e mposed.uthegave ohintf changefpolicyorany oncessionn the art ftheGovernment.3'. T. Krishnamacharibroadcastnthe ame einnTamil.fthe gitationad ver een ased n"misunderstandings,"ventsow howedhatxplanationsere ot nough.Thesame vening,fterstormyabinet eetingtwhichhe extf hePrimeMinister'sroadcastas onsidered,. Subramaniamandednhisresignation,ndhewas uicklyoinedy . V.Alagesan.Itwas his ramaticction hich orcedhe abinetoconsiderhe os-sibilityfmodifyinganguageolicy.lthoughnFebruary3 Lal Bahadurreaffirmedhat indimustventuallyecomehe fficialanguagef ndiaandrejectedonstitutionalmendments a methodfpacifyinghe outh,thereaftere eemedofavourmendingheOfficialanguagesct ogiveMr.Nehru'sssurancestatutoryorce.n theunderstandinghat omesuch ctionatisfactoryo themwould etaken,ubramaniamndAla-gesanwithdrewheiresignationsnFebruary6. Butthis ynomeansended he issensionithinhe abinet,ormendmentf heOfficialan-guages ctwasnot cceptableoa numberf nfluentialinisters.here

30Speech tPatnareportednTheHindu,February0, i965.al Ibid.,February2, i965.32


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TheMadras nti-Hindigitation,965was no consensuswithin arliament. s soon as thepossibilityfan altera-tionoflanguagepolicywas mentioned n officialuarters,he Hindi lobbyswung ntoaction.On February 6, fifty-fivePs from ightstatesmadepublictheirdisapproval f any statutoryhange, nd on February 9 MPsfromMaharashtrand Gujaratwenton record gainstchange,while onehundred nd six CongressMPs requested he PrimeMinister n February25 notto amendtheAct.32 ongressMPs fromMadrasmaintained strangesilence.None ofthem poke n thedebateon the anguage ssue n theLokSabha on February S, although delegation f Madras MPs finallymetShastri n March 2 and were apparentlyssured hat atisfactorytatutoryguaranteeswould be given.33 n March 22 the PrimeMinister alled aninconclusivemeeting f the eadersof the variousparties n Parliament odiscussthe language ssue.Strenuous ffortsppearto have been made tostopthe ssuebeingthoroughly iscussed n the floor fParliament,ornotonly Congressbutmostof theotherpartiesdid notwish to make publictheir itter ivisionsn thismatter. arliamenteemedunableto playa con-structiveole n resolvinghe risis.The Congress arty ound he anguagequestion eryhot to handle, ndfor hisreason t had notbeenconsideredn anydetailat the annualsessionof theAll-IndiaCongress ommitteet DurgapurfromJanuary-io. Whenevents orced he ssueupontheparty, eeprifts ecameobvious.The Con-gressPresident, . Kamaraj,former hiefMinister fMadras, oinedwithSanjeevaReddyfromAndhra,Nijalingappa,ChiefMinister fMysore, ndAtulya hosh fWestBengal oexpressis oncernboutanguageolicy.34Thesemen werethecoreof the Syndicate"whichhad putShastrintoofficeand continued o exercise reat nfluencen nationalpolitics.On February22, at a meeting f theCongressWorkingCommittee, amaraj calledforamendmentf theOfficialanguagesActbutMorarjiDesai, JagjivanRam,and Ram Subhag vehementlypposedhim.The WorkingCommitteeinallyrecommendedhat hepaceof Hindi-ization e sloweddown,that hethree-languageformula e strictlynforcedn all states, hat Nehru's assurancesbe reaffirmed,hatcompetitivexaminationse held in all theregional an-guages,and that places in the public services e allocated according o aquotasystem. n February4 the ChiefMinisters f the statesmet withtheUnionministersnd endorsedhese roposals.5Butthisdid not meanthatthe ssuewas now closed and settled. trongpressure roups n theNorthwere bitterlypposedto anyconcessiont allto thenon-Hindi reas.The Three-languageormulawas in factnotstrictlyenforced ithern Madras or in theHindi states, nd theproposalthat t

32 Ibid.,February2 and 20, i965.33Ibid.,March 3, i965." Ibid.,February, i965.35 bid.,February 3, 24 and 25, i965. Such meetings ave been labelledby Brecher smeetings f"The GrandCouncilof the Republic."33


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Pacific flairsshould e "strictlynforced" as rather confessionffaithhan callforaction.No Madrasgovernmentould n presentircumstancesake thestudy f Hindi in schools ompulsorynd survive. he proposals orchangesn the ystemfrecruitmento thepublic ervicesre, n theopin-ion ofmany,mpracticablendprobablyndesirables well.The only ealconcessiono theSouthwas theunderstandinghat heOfficialanguagesActwouldbeamended ogive tatutoryorce oNehru's ssurancesnthelanguagessue.But this roposalmmediatelyan nto trong ppositionnParliament.n earlyApril, sub-committeef theCabinet, onsistingfG. L. Nanda, A. K. Sen, Satyanarayanainha,MahavirTyagi,M. C.Chagla, nd S. K. Patilwas setup togivedetailed onsiderationothe an-guage ssue.Noneof thesub-committee'sembersamefrom heSouth,butneverthelesstseemed o find textremelyard oreach greement.tfinallyeportedack o theCabinet n 24 May, ecommendingheproposalsofS. K. Patil hatHindi nd English hould emain s joint ink anguagesuntil he majorityf the non-Hinditates skedforthe replacementfEnglish. he sub-committeeasunhappybout hequota ystemndthesuggestedseofso manymedia orUPSC examinations.ut tproduceddraft mendmentftheOfficialanguagesAct, ncorporatingehru's s-surancesxplicitly.The issue henwent ack o themeetingftheCongressWorkingom-mittee nd theChiefMinistersnJune. This meeting f whatBrechercalls The GrandCouncil ftheRepublic"pprovednelaborateesolutionon anguage olicy,n generaleaffirmingheir arlier ecisionsn strictn-forcementf theThree-languageormula,ncouragementf Hindi andregionalanguages,nd theuse ofregionalanguagesswell s English ndHindi s media or PSC examinations.37The question f egislation as,however,till pen, lthoughn June5a draft fficial anguages Amendment) ill was made publicpermit-ting heuse ofEnglish n inter-statend state-Unionommunications,ndattemptingoguaranteeheplaceofEnglish n administrationor s longas thiswasdesired ynon-Hinditates.he Bill, ogether ith resolutionon language olicy, as admittedytheSpeaker n August5 butwith-drawn fter itterrgumentnAugust 8,thereason iven eing hat,nview fthePunjabi ubaagitationndtheKashmirrisis,he imewas n-opportuneor hediscussionf so delicate n issue.And thatwas the astthathas been heard f Bill and resolution.o theconsiderableelief fmany, hewhole ssuewas shelvedndefinitelyhile ndia turned er t-tentionotheconflict ithPakistan,ollowed y thedeath f Mr. Shastriandthe electionf newPrimeMinister.

36 The Hindu, May 25, I965.37 Ibid., June3, i965. cf. Brecher, p. cit., p. i64: "It was an historic ession, or a con-sensus n languagewasfinallyeached." wouldquestionhisudgement.34


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TheMadras nti-Hindigitation,965The treatmentf the anguageontroversyhowedp many fthestrengthsndweaknessesfMr. hastri'seadership.ewasnot bold, e-cisive,nd ndependentecision-maker.ehru,t theheightfhispowers,

might ell ave een ble onip he roublenthe udby omencisivendspectacularction.hastrireferredo proceedlowlyndundramatically,soundingut pposingttitudesnd llowingll nterestedartieso havetheirullay ndplentyf ime orober eflectionnthe angersf one-sided ettlement.e wasseekingconsensusnda middle ourse hichwould atisfyll partieso thedispute.38uthispersonalnfluencen thedecision-makingrocessasminimal-heeemedoplay he art f ref-eree atherhan nythinglse.And he omplicatedachineryf ollectiveleadershipet ponthe eath fNehrumade thard odeterminehe ocusofresponsibility.heagitationparkedff,swe have een, long, itter,and nconclusiveeriesf consultationsetweenheCongresseadership,Parliament,heCabinet,he tate hiefMinisters,ndothers.he resultfallthis as orevealhathere asno middleourse,"nd hat consensuscould ot e obtained.ence he elief ithwhich he ssuewas shelved.The Southwas hardlyatisfied ith hemaintenancefthe tatus uo.Theagitationpparentlyad chievedothing,utthadbroughtnto e-ing n influentialndwell-organizedtudent ovementn Madraswithcontactsnmosttheron-Hinditates.n Mayi, i965, a delegationromthis amilnadtudents'nti-Hindigitationouncil et hastri,. Sub-ramaniam,. V. Alagesan,ndChaglan Delhi.39poradictudenttrikesanda threatenedesumptionfthe gitationnAugust eremet ythearresty heMadras overnmentf large umberf tudenteaders.n"All-Indiatudents'nti-Hindigitationouncil" etnBangalorenJan-uary , 966,and alledor constitutionalmendmentomake nglishhesole fficialanguage.40herewas littleroublemongtudentsnMadrasaround epublic ay, 6 January,966.A conferencef studentseldnMadras y heTamilnadtudents'nti-Hindigitationounciln Feb-ruary, i966,wasfollowedy two-dayonferencen Thanjavurn Junei8 and 9 which as ttendedlso y epresentativesrom ysore,ndhra,andWestBengal,ndwhichalled pon tudentsocampaigngainstCongressn he967 Generallections.4'The gitationas ertainlylienatedconsiderableectionf he tudentpopulationromhe ongressarty.uthowmuch hiswill ffectotese-mainsobe seen. ertainlyhe ositionfCongressn Madras tatesnotnow s secures once twas.Bhaktavatsalam'sandlingf the gitationwasmostnjudicious.adKamarajtill eennpowern Madras ecould

38 The Hindu,March28, i965.39Ibid.,May I2, I965.40 Ibid.,January, i966.41 Ibid.,June g and 20, I966.35


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Pacific ffairsprobablyave ept he eacehroughis xtraordinarybilityocaptureheconfidencefthosewhodisagree ith im.Butas it was, he gitationthreatenedhepopularase nMadrasn which amaraj'smazing a-tionalnfluenceltimatelyests. e hasmade reatffortsincehe gita-tionorestorehe ositionnMadras,ndhewill ertainlyevote ucht-tentiono securingnotherongressictoryn thestatewhichwouldrestorehe restigefhispartynd nsureis wn ositionnthe ationalstage. ne trawn thewindwhichendso uggesthat he gitationayhaveittlenfluencenvotingas he y-electionnDharmapuriegislativeAssemblyonstituency.olling ookplaceonApril o, i965,andtheCon-gressandidate on seatwhich adpreviouslyeenheldbyan inde-pendent,ith leadofmorehan en housandotesver isDMK op-ponent.42The gitationas syeted ono ignificanthangefpolicy,lthoughthascertainlyaughtheGovernmentndtheCongressartyotread el-icately.thas lsorevealedhe eriouseaknessfthe ystemfcollectiveleadershipnd decisiony ompromise"et pafterhe eathfNehru.tprobablyasalso factorn the electionfMrs. ndiraGandhi s LalBahadur'successor.er nterventionnthe risis ad hown er obealeader f ouragend ndependencendwonher he onfidencef he on-Hindi reas, hichhastriadneverad.The anguageuestionssureobean ssuenthe orthcomingenerallectionsutCongress,edby ndiraGandhi ndKamaraj,s ina relativelytrongositionn thenon-Hindistatesndmaywellwipe ut,t east npart,he eputationorneptitudewhich ashighlightedythe gitation.o furtherction oresolveheunderlyingisputes likelyeforehe lections,ndeven fterwardst isprobablehathe orcesill emainoevenlyalancedhathe uestionfofficialanguageill equireobegraduallydjustedver long eriodftimeatherhanolvedvernighty nukase romheUnion overnment.TheMadrasgitationsover, utnot orgotten.ut he anguagerisisfwhicht wasone xpressionemainschronicfflictionf ndian olitics.Madras hristianollege

42 Ibid.,April 2, i965.

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anti-hindi protests madras

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