Nehru and the Language Politics of India

Description

The language controversies that accompanied the first years of Indian independence had pushed the country to the brink of instability. That language problems are no longer perceived as forces of national disequilibrium is due in large part, according to this book, to the role played by India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.   Contrary to the widely held view that Nehru let his country down during its time of great linguistic strife by lack of aggressive leadership, the author argues that Nehru handled the complex language crisis with an intuitive understanding which robbed it of its potential for causing disorder. The book provides a detailed picture of the historical context in which Nehru had to act, and traces Nehru's linguistic sophistication, his extraordinary sensitivity to language and mastery of English prose, back to his childhood in Allahabad through an examination of his personal letters and the translations he did at school, as also his later reading and writing.   This book is an excellent, topical study, written in an approachable style that is bound to appeal to all politically and linguistically conscious people.