By Anjali Jain

This is a transcription in English of the talk given by Mrinal Kanti Das, former Director General of Police of Manipur, on handling language barriers in the North East of India. The speech was delivered at a Modlingua event. Watch the full talk on Modlingua's YouTube channel.

Introduction

He belongs to the same university where I studied, but even before university we were together in school. When I say together, of course he was my senior; I was not there at all, I was not even born, but he passed out from the same school in which I studied in my childhood. He continues to be our source of inspiration, because he has been helping us a lot in all our activities.

The Speech

A very good afternoon to all of you: Mr Ravi Kumar, the distinguished chief guest, the speakers and all participants present, ladies and gentlemen.

The earlier speaker, Mr Joginder Singh, tried to tell you something about the service to which I belonged. I also belong to the Indian Police Service, and I have been posted to the most difficult areas of this nation.

India, as you know, is a very, very diverse country in its polity, culture, religion, language and so on. To maintain this unity there are people all across India and abroad who have been trying to do their best. In the service to which we belong, it is perhaps rightly said that if an edifice of unity exists, then it exists because many of our people who toil on the borders get what they need to do in the form of internal security.

When I mention that I have been posted to very difficult areas, I am referring to the North East, where we now find nationalism in a very, very virulent form. I have also been posted on special duties in Jammu and Kashmir, where communicating has been a real challenge. We all understand English at some levels of communication, but not at the levels at which we operate. Operational needs are very, very different from what we speak.

Learning the language in Tripura

There have been times when we have been called upon to perform certain duties in the context of nation building. Many, many times people have misunderstood, not because they are bad, but because our perception is different.

I will give an example without quoting too many details, because that would not be proper for me to do. There is a state in India called Tripura. It has international borders, and at a given point of time in its historical development it claimed to be an independent nation. Subsequently it became a part of the Indian nation, and it was passing through turbulent times.

It was decided that I should reach out to these people, but simply by doing so it was not possible for me, or for any agency, to reach them. They had to be given the input that what they were doing was right from their point of view, but perhaps, from a larger point of view, it was not a thing which should have been done. But how do you reach them?

I had to learn that language; it was not my language. First I had to learn it and communicate with them. I learned at that point of time how great a part a language plays. I made a request to the Government of India that I needed to equip myself before undertaking this job. They were patient listeners, and they suggested that I find somebody who would do this for me.

Quite a number of times, in a different attire, I was a different person; I had a role to play, I had a role to perform. I had to learn that language, and this led to rethinking on their part. It led to their coming overground, becoming a part of the national ethos, accepting the Constitution which has withstood the times since it was made after independence, and now they are partners in progress there. This effort of mine led the Government of India to think that perhaps I could be drafted for a singular job somewhere else.

Why language matters to nation building

Ours is more or less a common language, but there are words which keep on changing; something which you speak here may not be perfectly all right at a place a little far off. In the armed forces we no longer say "stand at ease, stand in attention"; it is a single word now, "attention". Many times we speak differently, the accent is different and other things are different. An effort was made to rationalise all these things, which has led to a disciplined way of behaviour that helps to a large extent.

If I need to do a job, I must do it properly. When Mr Ravi Kumar proposed this to me, I thought I would reach out to all of you here, because there is a lot of work to be done in which, if we take up certain work, it is going to help the India of tomorrow. If I have my basics right, I will quote a figure which shows what the population profile of this country is going to be in 2020. By 2020 there will be nearly 400 million Indians below 35 years of age. The ethos is going to be totally different from what we think today; there will be a generation gap, there will be so many things coming about, and the technology will be different, because it is changing every day. If that has to happen, what are we supposed to do?

Coupled with this progress, a situation has arisen in which the law enforcing agencies are required in each and everything, whether it is the distribution of a certain patta, which means certain benefits which accrue to people either through the initiatives taken by the Ministry of Agriculture or any other ministry; their help is required.

I will give an example. We talk about a lot of deaths taking place in far flung areas where arable land is not there. If we quote the figures, nearly 329 million hectares of land area is not yet productive, not in terms of manpower but in terms of agricultural produce. Now, if we understand their language better it will be quite good.

I will give another example. We went to a particular place in a difficult area and found that the Indian flag would not fly there, although it happened to be a part of Indian territory. When we asked a local man, he said in his own language: we were independent earlier, we became a part of India only recently, so why don't you give us that much latitude to put our flag parallel to the Indian flag? Why should you feel so offended about it? But every day we put this flag up and the security forces come and take it down. I tried to plead this case in the highest of forums, saying that in order to preserve their sentiments, if they do so they are not showing any disrespect to the national flag; then why do you go after them, what is the need? A time will come when they themselves will realise it, and perhaps they will not like to go against this thing.

Closing words

Many of you present here have not come just to attend a seminar. You have come with a conviction, for supporting this cause and trying to build a presence which is going to help not only you professionally, but in a major, major task which is going to be really appreciated by all like-minded, right-thinking people.

I could go on citing many examples from my personal experiences which help in sustaining this subject, but I would not like to take that much of your time. I would definitely like to thank the organisers here for giving me an opportunity to come across to you. I am reminded of my days in an institution which has a name all across the world, Jawaharlal Nehru University here in Delhi; I am an alumnus of it. In those days, when this institution had just begun, there was a lot of thinking, and we had something called a Centre for Foreign Languages. Now we hear that in our curriculum we are thinking of introducing Chinese from a basic level; it is a very good effort.

What I was trying to say is that this is a contribution which is going to be cherished. I, for one, will definitely like to remain associated with the efforts which ITA is trying to make, and for which Mr Ravi Kumar rightly deserves the accolades which have been given to him. I would like to thank all of you for giving me a patient hearing. I wish this seminar every success that it deserves. Thank you very much. Jai Hind.