Durgabai had accepted Hindustani as the speech of the people. Which c…

Durgabai had accepted Hindustani as the speech of the people. Which change being made in it worried her?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 2

The correct answer is Option (2) → Words from Urdu and other regional languages were being taken out

Option (1) Words from English were being added to it for official use — Incorrect. Adding English words was a separate matter. Her fear was that Hindustani was becoming narrower.

Option (2) Words from Urdu and other regional languages were being taken out — Correct. Hindustani was valued for its inclusive and composite character. Taking out words from Urdu and other regional languages eroded this and created fears among language groups.

Option (3) Its Devanagari script was being replaced by the Roman script — Incorrect. A change of script was a separate matter. The change she spoke of was in the words of the language.

Option (4) Words from Sanskrit were being dropped to make it simpler — Incorrect. Her worry was not about Sanskrit words. She spoke of Urdu and regional words being taken out of Hindustani.

NCERT (2026-27): “5.2 The fear of domination …
Durgabai informed the House that the opposition in the south against Hindi was very strong: “The opponents feel perhaps justly that this propaganda for Hindi cuts at the very root of the provincial languages ...” Yet, she along with many others had obeyed the call of Mahatma Gandhi and carried on Hindi propaganda in the south, braved resistance, started schools and conducted classes in Hindi. “Now what is the result of it all?” asked Durgabai. “I am shocked to see this agitation against the enthusiasm with which we took to Hindi in the early years of the century.” She had accepted Hindustani as the language of the people, but now that language was being changed, words from Urdu and other regional languages were being taken out. Any move that eroded the inclusive and composite character of Hindustani, she felt, was bound to create anxieties and fears amongst different language groups.”