The victorious BJP has taken a new offensive to strengthen its position by allowing the use of multiple languages at the oath taking ceremony at Guwahati. Angoorlatha Deka an Assamese actress and a BJP legislator created a stir by taking her oath in Sanskrit. She said that although her mother tongue was Assamese, she regarded Sanskrit as the mother of most Indian languages. She wanted to focus the importance of the Indian languages and impose upon younger generations the need of learning the ancient yet rich and scientific language. She represents the Batadrava constituency which is the birthplace of of Srimanta Sankardeva, the 16th century saint and reformer who enriched the Assamese language by translating several Sanskrit scriptures. Two other BJP MLAs, Ashok Sharma and Bimal Borah also took their oath in Sanskrit. This was unprecedented as Sanskrit is not one of the languages recognised in the Constitution. While there is no denying the importance of Sanskrit tolerance and scientific creations, other oath taking in Sanskrit seems part of the Hindutva crusade by the RSS and BJP. It began with the replacement of German with Sanskrit in the central schools and the Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani’s overemphasis on Sanskrit in academic institutions. The BJP won the Assam poll by distancing itself from the RSS but the Sangh influence seems to be seeping in.
It has been argued that the choice of multiple languages at the oath-taking ceremony-only 91 out of the 196 took the oath in Assamese could be part of BJP’s larger designs of redefining and reconstructing Indian nationalism. Nobody will deny that Assam’s links with mainland India should be strengthened. But it cannot be done by advocating multiple languages and even an ancient language like Sanskrit. No European country has promoted Latin in that manner. It is also illogical to maintain that multiplicity of languages at an official level will develop ethnic languages and culture.