Rajya Sabha: Oppn points to new Bills with only Hindi titles

New Delhi: Opposition members in Rajya Sabha on Thursday accused the government of imposing Hindi by bringing new Bills with titles only in that language, a charge the treasury benches contested while alleging they were stuck with a colonial mindset.

Taking part in the discussion on ‘The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024’ that seeks to replace the 90-year-old Aircraft Act to boost the ease of doing business and attract investments in the aviation sector, TMC MP Sagarika Ghose opposed the bill’s name while Kanimozhi NVN Somu of DMK asked the government to change its name.

“Why do so many laws have Hindi names? This is imposition of Hindi. The mandate of the people in 2024 was for diversity, dividend, and the federal principle but the Government is persisting in the ‘Hindification’ of laws. This is Hindi imposition,” Ghose asserted.

She further said the Indian Penal Code has been changed to Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Indian Aircraft Act has now been changed to Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak.

Expressing similar sentiments, DMK member Kanimozhi NVN Somu said, “I would like the Union government to change the title of the Bill to Aircraft Bill 2024. Don’t try to impose Hindi on people who don’t speak Hindi. I request the Union government to refrain from naming bills in Hindi and Sanskrit.”

S Niranjan Reddy of YRSCP also asked the Government to reconsider the “nomenclature” of the Bill, not because he is opposing ‘Hindi imposition’ but saying there is a constitutional requirement that since it has been brought in English and the title cannot be in Hindi.

“We are now going to have the possibility of a constitutional court, a high court or the Supreme Court striking down this part saying that this part is unconstitutional because Article 348 (1B) requires authoritative text to be in English,” Reddy said.

He further said Parliament can have the authoritative text in Hindi also, entirety of the authoritative text can be in Hindi, from the title to every single word can be in Hindi.

“I am trying to speak for 56 per cent of the Indian population which does not have Hindi as mother tongue... not to oppose (the bill),” Reddy said.

Sandosh Kumar P of the CPI demanded that the Title of the Bill needs to be amended, claiming that it is in contravention of an Article of the Constitution.