Ahead of assembly elections, Kerala is once more pressing New Delhi to confer the ‘classical’ status to Malayalam. Will it make any difference to the decline this language faces?

In 2008, the Central Government accorded ‘classical language’ status to Kannada and Telugu. Tamil enjoyed this status since 2004 and Sanskrit from the next year. Malayalam, which is spoken by over 30 million people, has thus become the only South Indian language that is now without this coveted tag and all that goes along with it for the promotion of a ‘classical language’.

A year ago, an all-party delegation, led by Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan and opposition leader Oommen Chandy, in consultation with an expert committee of writers and linguists, submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding classical status for Malayalam. The Centre has turned a deaf ear to the State’s plea and the committee has now renewed its demand more forcefully.

Major Malayalam writers like Jnanpith laureate O. N. V. Kurup, linguist Naduvattam Gopalakrishnan, writer and academic Pudussery Ramachandran and poet Sugathakumari are part of the committee that is reinforcing the claim with historical, linguistic and cultural evidences.

‘Equally Eligible’
With the tall claim that Malayalam meets all the required parameters for classical status, the panel, headed by Kurup, is now questioning the wisdom of the government in bequeathing special status to any particular language and the discrimination shown towards Malayalam.

In the report submitted to State Education Minister M. A. Baby, the panel has pointed out that Malayalam has all the requisites for ‘classical language’ status like antiquity, centuries of oral and written literary tradition, epigraphical and grammatical systems.

Kurup says that Malayalam is a highly developed form of ancient Tamil and , therefore, antiquity claimed by Tamil has to be shared with Malayalam too. He also notes that Kannada also shares the same ancestry, imbibing much from Sanskrit and it became a ‘stable’ language only in 11th century A.D. “In that case, Malayalam should get all the support and encouragement that Kannada and Telugu are getting”, he argues.

When the official requirement for antiquity is just 2,000 years, with a history of 2, 300 years, Malayalam can surely make a claim for classical position. Kautilya’s Arthasastra, a masterpiece on state craft, was translated into Malayalam in the 10th century A.D. and the Hindu philosophical classic Bhagavad Geeta was translated in the14th century A.D., adding strength to Malayalam’s plea for special recognition.

Being ‘Classical’
In India, the word ‘classical’ was earlier associated with literary Sanskrit in its ornate form. The term was also used to denote the older literary form of any existing language. Based on the Sahitya Akademi’s stipulations, the Government of India in 2004 declared that languages which met certain requirements could be recognised as ‘classical’ languages. Tamil and Sanskrit were accorded this status.

In 2006, the Union Minister for Tourism and Culture announced the creation of classical languages, based on certain norms that were diluted and subsequently ‘classical’ status was conferred on Telugu and Kannada also.

Good or Bad
Writer and former Kendriya Sahitya Akademi Secretary K. Satchidanandan says, “I am always of the view that governmental interference in classification of languages is not good, as in a country like India with diverse culture, its quiet natural to have many claimants for such tags”.

“Instead of creating ‘savarna’ and ‘avarna’ groups of languages, let us do something to empower our regional languages and save them from the threat of globalisation and the consequent monolingual culture”, he continues. He also adds that “the yardstick that measures language is also getting diluted, so there is no point in such classifications”. Eminent historian and former Director of Indian Council of Historical Research, M.G.S. Narayanan says all languages should have the same rights. “Classical status for some languages will only widen the gap between them”, he adds. He also points out that the manner in which the Union Government furthers the concept of ‘classical’ is linked to vote bank politics.

The official designation of a language as ‘classic’ comes with a large grant that is supposed to be used for its “preservation and propagation”. Naturally, in a remarkably multilingual country like India where language is a politically, emotionally, as well as ethnically charged issue, this leads to regional tensions.

Malayalam Today
Over the years, the Malayalam language has made significant strides in the realms of literature, mass communication, cinema and education when compared to several other Indian languages. But the fact that it is fast becoming a victim of globalisation cannot be ignored.

Today, even in Kerala, Malayalam holds less importance in higher education as well as governmental matters, where the preferred medium of communication is English more and more. All the service examinations, except some last grades, are in English. Students in Kerala can complete their education from kindergarten to college level without ever learning the language. Many Malayalam medium schools are on the verge of closure or are changing their medium of instruction, while English-medium schools are more sought after by parents. In colleges also, the pursuers of Malayalam studies are steadily decreasing and the vacancies are getting convertedto self-financing professional courses that are in great demand. There is no separate university for Malayalam in the State whereas there is one for Sanskrit.

What is needed is a government policy that ensures opportunities for those who learn Malayalam and promotion of studies and researches for the development of this language. The government says it has several plans to tackle the issue. A ‘Malayalam language convention’, similar to the one conducted by Tamil Nadu, is on the anvil. It has also been decided to make Malayalam compulsory in all English medium schools in Kerala and CBSC schools have also been asked to include the language in their curriculum. If such measures can protect and help the growth of the language, they are welcome”, says Satchidanandan.

Attitudinally, Malayalees today feel ‘psychological secure’ when they are given a mixture of localisation and globalisation in a well-thought out choice of learning the mother tongue or/and English. Under these circumstances, can a government declaration save Malayalam?

By Nisary Mahesh