(Asia Times Online) – In India, with a sizable population of English speakers, the language is not just a medium. It can lend itself to various permutations, while Indians – with their distinct delivery – add to Indianisms that further enrich the spoken word. With the language being so deep-seated, English plays a multifarious role in this country. It divides the haves and have-nots, as there is a connection between economic progress and English speakers. English is a political tool to appeal to the vast masses that do not even have access to basic education in their local language. And it can take various forms. For instance, K S Sudershan, chief of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh, the right-wing ideological arm of the Sangh Parivar that also comprises the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, recently said that an English education exposes children to lesbianism and casual sex. Sudershan’s rant against the “alien tongue” included assertions that English simply cannot rival the rich vocabulary and emotional texture of India ‘s regional languages that should be used to the research level. To those more clued into the Indian political scene, Sudershan’s attack was aimed more against the Christian missionaries who work with the poor and impart the English language. (The Sangh Parivar is wedded to Hindutva, a philosophy that promotes majority Hindu rule.) Socialists, including prominent regional political satraps such as Mulayam Singh Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) and Laloo Prasad Yadav (Bihar ), publicly espouse an anti-English stance to appeal to parochial and regional sentiments. Hindi-medium schools are encouraged in the two states, while the children of both of the leaders have actually studied in expensive English private schools and abroad.

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