RS: Oppn points to new bills with only Hindi titles, alleges 'Hindification' of laws

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.

"This Bill is not at all comprehensive. The Title of the Bill needs to be changed and the concerns of the passengers must be addressed properly," he said.

Ghanshyam Tiwari of the BJP refuted the charges of 'Hindi imposition' and pointed out that the bill with title in Hindi has been presented to the House by a minister who is a Telugu.

He said the step has been taken up as per constitutional provision and the name coming in any language is not an effort to impose any language. "This shows their colonial era mindset," he said referring to the Opposition members' objections to the Hindi titles.

Responding to the objections on the Bill's Title raised by several members from the Opposition, Bhim Singh of the BJP said: "The party which can oppose Vande Mataram, why will it not oppose our Vayuyan word. The party, which when our government puts 'Bharat' instead of India on a board, can oppose it, why will such a party and its leaders not oppose 'Vayuyan'. I would like to tell my friends to stop trying to make them understand, they will not understand. The public is continuously trying to make them understand through election (results) but they will not understand," Singh said.

Fauzia Khan of NCP-SCP said the Bill does not address concerns on carbon footprint and suggested that a certain number of seats should be reserved for women travelling alone on flights.

Haris Beeran of the IUML said the Bill should contain a provision assigning an Authority with the power of capping airfares when the need arises.

He flagged the environmental concerns emanating from carbon emissions and also called for penalty on unruly passengers to be included in the provisions of the new Bill.

Sulata Deo of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) raised the issues of difference in rates of flight tickets across various travel booking platforms and the flight delays which cause inconvenience to air passengers.

Union Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu moved the bill in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024, which was passed in the Lok Sabha in the last session of Parliament in August this year, seeks to remove redundancies and replace the 90-year-old Aircraft Act to boost ease of doing business to attract investments in the aviation sector.