Identify the correct statements.
A. By the 1930s, the Congress had accepted that Hindustani ought to be the national language.
B. Durgabai wanted Hindi to be declared as the national language.
C. Mahatma Gandhi retained his faith in the composite character Hindustani.
D. Each province was to be allowed to choose one of the regional languages for official work within the region.
E. R.V. Dhulekar was against Hindi being used as the language in Constitution making.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → A, C, D only
A. By the 1930s, the Congress had accepted that Hindustani ought to be the national language. Correct. By the 1930s the Congress had accepted Hindustani, a blend of Hindi and Urdu, as the national language.
B. Durgabai wanted Hindi to be declared as the national language. Incorrect. It was R.V. Dhulekar who wanted Hindi declared the national language. Durgabai of Madras told the House that the opposition to Hindi in the south was very strong; she had accepted Hindustani as the language of the people and feared the anxieties a narrower Hindi would cause.
C. Mahatma Gandhi retained his faith in the composite character Hindustani. Correct. Even as Hindi was being Sanskritised and Urdu Persianised, Mahatma Gandhi retained his faith in the composite character of Hindustani.
D. Each province was to be allowed to choose one of the regional languages for official work within the region. Correct. Under the compromise formula of the Language Committee, each province was to be allowed to choose one of the regional languages for official work within the province.
E. R.V. Dhulekar was against Hindi being used as the language in Constitution making. Incorrect. Dhulekar made an aggressive plea that Hindi be used as the language of constitution-making; he was its strongest supporter, not its opponent.
NCERT (2026-27): “5. The Language of the Nation … By the 1930s, the Congress had accepted that Hindustani ought to be the national language. Mahatma Gandhi felt that everyone should speak in a language that common people could easily understand. Hindustani – a blend of Hindi and Urdu – was a popular language of a large section of the people of India, and it was a composite language enriched by the interaction of diverse cultures. Over the years it had incorporated words and terms from very many different sources, and was therefore understood by people from various regions. This multi-cultural language, Mahatma Gandhi thought, would be the ideal language of communication between diverse communities: it could unify Hindus and Muslims, and people of the north and the south.… 5. The Language of the Nation … From the end of the nineteenth century, however, Hindustani as a language had been gradually changing. As communal conflicts deepened, Hindi and Urdu also started growing apart. On the one hand, there was a move to Sanskritise Hindi, purging it of all words of Persian and Arabic origin. On the other hand, Urdu was being increasingly Persianised. As a consequence, language became associated with the politics of religious identities. Mahatma Gandhi, however, retained his faith in the composite character of Hindustani. 5.1 A plea for Hindi … In one of the earliest sessions of the Constituent Assembly, R. V. Dhulekar, a Congressman from the United Provinces, made an aggressive plea that Hindi be used as the language of constitution-making. When told that not everyone in the Assembly knew the language, Dhulekar retorted: ‘People who are present in this House to fashion a constitution for India and do not know Hindustani are not worthy to be members of this Assembly. They better leave.… 5.1 A plea for Hindi … By now the Language Committee of the Constituent Assembly had produced its report and had thought of a compromise formula to resolve the deadlock between those who advocated Hindi as the national language and those who opposed it. It had decided, but not yet formally declared, that Hindi in the Devanagari script would be the official language, but the transition to Hindi would be gradual. For the first fifteen years, English would continue to be used for all official purposes. Each province was to be allowed to choose one of the regional languages for official work within the province. By referring to Hindi as the official rather that the national language, the Language Committee of the Constituent Assembly hoped to placate ruffled emotions and arrive at a solution that would be acceptable to all. Dhulekar was not one who liked such an attitude of reconciliation. He wanted Hindi to be declared not an Official Language, but a National Language.…” |