Students are upset with the ‘imposition’ of Hindi. Archive
Several students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), who have submitted their MPhil or PhD dissertations recently, have alleged that the university was “forcing” them to transliterate their names and dissertation topics into Hindi. Wednesday was the last day for research scholars to submit their theses.
Agitated by the “imposition” of Hindi, some students transliterated their names not just in Hindi but also in their native languages. However, Assistant Registrar (Evaluation), Sajjan Singh, said the move was done keeping in mind the Centre’s guidelines. Singh further questioned why students had a problem with writing in the “Rashtra Bhasha”.
Dipsita Dhar from the Study of Regional Development, who submitted her PhD on Wednesday, alleged, “The Section Officer of our School (School of Social Sciences) said they had sent forms to the administration. However, those which did not have the details transliterated in Hindi were sent back to them. When we said that we won’t write our names and topics in Hindi, we were told that our submission process wouldn’t be completed.”
Aishwarya Bhattacharya, who also submitted her MPhil dissertation, transliterated her name not just in Hindi but also in Bengali and Urdu.
“Many of us created an uproar over the transliteration to Hindi being forced on us, so they allowed us not to transliterate our dissertation topics. But, we were told that at least our names would have to be transliterated. I was so angry that I also wrote my name in Bengali and Urdu,” she said.
JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) general secretary Satarupa Chakraborty said, “Whatever the government is trying to impose on people of this country, JNU administration immediately tries to follow those without being open for any discussion. In a central university where students come from all across the country, how they can possibly write their names or dissertation titles in Hindi? And more importantly, why should they write these in Hindi?”
Singh, however, said that since the degree certificates had to be given in English and Hindi, according to the Central government guidelines, students had been asked to do the same last year as well.
“Last year, too, we had tried to get it transliterated from as many students as possible. We had to send forms to Schools because we need the correct spelling of their names to put on degrees. As Hindi is our rashtra bhasha… I don’t know what problem the students have in writing in Hindi. Students from the South or others who’re unfamiliar with the language can always take help from the staff,” he said.