No need to make enemy of English: Bhagwat

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday said that people do not need to make an enemy of English to assert primacy of local languages and that supremacy of English is only in their minds.

"The dominance of English is not in day-to-day work, it's in our minds. We should start respecting our own mother tongues... The existence of disparate languages is necessary for the development of human species.

"One should have complete mastery of one's own language. There's no need to make an enemy of any language," Bhagwat said while answering a question on the last day of "Bhavishya ka Bharat - an RSS perspective" conclave here.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief said people do not need to replace English but remove its paranoia from their minds.

"No need to replace English, it must stay there as it is. We need to remove the paranoia of English which we have in our minds. Its (English's) reputation as an international language is overstated... Even American speak English but they insist their own brand of the language. In France they speak French. If you go to Israel, you'll have to learn Hebrew. Before going to Russia, you will have to acquaint yourself with Russian," he said.

He advised people to teach themselves at least one Indian language and dismissed bringing a law to impose Hindi as a national language.

"Imposing a single language upon all others breeds bitterness... but soon there will be a single national language in which all administrative work will be done," Bhagwat said.

On National Education Policy in the works, he said it should be based broadly on Indian tradition with useful elements from the modern education methods.

He lamented the current state of education and emphasised on achieving "excellence in one's vocation" instead of getting mere degree.

He also acknowledged that research standard in the country was "low".

--IANS

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