At a time of increasing acrimony between the BJP-led Centre and Tamil Nadu over delimitation and the three-language formula, the RSS has taken a clear stance on the former and carefully manoeuvred around the latter. RSS Joint General Secretary C R Mukunda spoke about the issues at a press conference in Bengaluru on Friday during the three-day meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), the RSS's highest decision-making body. Mukunta spoke of maintaining the share of southern states in the Lok Sabha seats in case a delimitation exercise increases the number of seats in Parliament. This is also the position that the DMK took earlier this month. On the three language row, Mukunda advocated for the use of a person’s mother tongue, the regional language where the person resides, and a career language that could be English or another language. Mukunda, however, expressed concern about “forces” that “are challenging national unity, especially by raising the North-South divide, whether it is about delimitation or languages”. He added, “But other than this, there are many things that are mostly politically motivated, like having the rupee symbol in the local language. These things have to be addressed by social leaders and groups. It is not good for the country to quarrel among ourselves. It should be resolved harmoniously.” The delimitation debate The RSS spoke of maintaining the share of southern states in the Lok Sabha seats if a delimitation exercise increased the number of seats in Parliament. “When it comes to delimitation, the central government, our Home minister (Shah)… I think he has told in Parliament also… and in Coimbatore. that it (delimitation) will be held based on the ratio. If some southern state is having some number of Lok Sabha seats in the 543 seats today, that ratio will be held as is if it (Lok Sabha) is expanded. The whole decision has to be taken by the central government. It is not for the RSS to say how many numbers or (speak of) ratio,” Mukunda said. In February, at an event in Coimbatore, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that “after delimitation, on the basis of pro rata, not a single seat of any southern state will come down”. Shah’s remarks had come a day after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin had underlined the South’s fears regarding delimitation. Southern states feel that a delimitation based purely on population — to be carried out on the basis of a fresh Census — would end up hurting them as they have been able to control their population growth in comparison to the North. After Shah’s reassurance, the DMK passed a six-point resolution opposing the delimitation at an all-party meeting. The demands were to extend the 1971 Census-based delimitation framework for another 30 years beyond 2026 and ensure fair representation for states that have effectively controlled their population. If the delimitation was carried out, and seats of the Lok Sabha were increased, the resolution called for the redistribution of seats based on the existing proportion in the Lower House. This is not the first time that Sangh has expressed solidarity with the concerns of the southern states on delimitation. In its July issue this year, RSS-linked weekly Organiser said in an editorial: "Regional imbalance is another critical dimension that will impact the delimitation process of the Parliamentary Constituencies in the future. The States from the West and South are doing relatively better regarding population control measures and, therefore, fear losing a few seats in Parliament if the base population is changed after the census." On language row While advocating that people should know at least three languages, the Sangh chose not to wade directly into a debate over what language formula the National Education Policy should adopt. While the Union government is insistent on a three-language formula without an emphasis on Hindi, the DMK has been pushing for a two-language formula, alleging that the three-language formula is aimed at imposing Hindi. Mukunda said, “Mother tongue should be used for all our daily things. The RSS has not passed any resolution on what should be the three-language or two-language system, but on mother tongue, we passed a resolution earlier.” Mukunda added, “Not just in the school system but in society too, we have to learn multiple languages. One is our mother tongue, the other should be the regional language or the market language where we live. If I live in Tamil Nadu, I have to learn Tamil. If I live in Delhi, I must learn Hindi because I have to converse with the local people in the market. For some people, career language is also needed. If it is English, he or she must also learn that for his or her career. So, career language is there, regional language is there, and the mother tongue, on which the RSS always stresses.” In 2018, the ABPS passed a resolution on the need to protect and promote “Bharatiya” languages and said primary education “should only be” in one’s mother tongue or any other Indian language. “Primary education across the country should only be in mother tongue or any other Bharatiya language. For this, parents should also make up their mind and the governments should formulate suitable policies and frame necessary provisions in this regard,” read the resolution.
