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Дата: When British traders landed on India’s shores in the 1600s, they arrived in search of spices and silk but stayed for centuries – leaving behind a legacy that would shape the nation long after their colonial exploitation ended: the English language. +endln+ +endln+Over the centuries, English seeped into the very fabric of Indian life – first as a tool of commerce, then as the language of law and, eventually, a marker of privilege. +endln+[url=https://trip36.win]tripscan top[/url] +endln+Now, after more than a decade of Hindu-nationalist rule, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is mounting perhaps the most significant challenge yet to the language’s place in India. +endln+ +endln+“Those who speak English will soon feel ashamed,” Home Minister Amit Shah said last month, igniting a heated debate about national identity and social mobility in the polyglot nation of 1.4 billion. +endln+ +endln+While Shah did not mention India’s former colonial masters, he declared that “the languages of our country are the jewels of our culture” – and that without them, “we cease to be truly Indian.” +endln+https://trip36.win +endln+трипскан сайт вход +endln+Spoken behind the walls of colonial forts and offices, English in India was at first the language of ledgers and treaties. +endln+ +endln+But as British rule expanded from the ports of Gujarat to the palaces of Delhi, it became the lingua franca of the colonial elite. +endln+ +endln+At independence, India faced a dilemma. With hundreds of languages and dialects spoken across its vast landscape, its newly appointed leaders grappled with the question of which one should represent the new nation. +endln+ +endln+Hindi, the predominant language in the north, was put forward as a candidate for official language. +endln+ +endln+But strong resistance from non-Hindi-speaking regions – especially in the south – meant English would remain only as a temporary link to unite the country. It’s a legacy that endures to this day – and still rankles some. +endln+ +endln+“I subscribe to the view that English is the language of the colonial masters,” Pradeep Bahirwani, a retired corporate executive from the southern city of Bengaluru, said, adding: “Our national language should be a language which… has got roots in India.” |