Demographic changes in Assam, Bengal ‘ticking time bomb’, need to find solutions: TN Guv RN Ravi

Addressing students and faculty at Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) in Gandhinagar, RN Ravi remarked that harbouring bitterness over language is not in India’s character or culture.

“This country always managed to fight external aggression. But when it comes to internal matters, what happened in the past? In 1947, India was Partitioned because of internal implosion. People following an ideology announced they don’t want to live with the rest of us. This ideology broke our nation,” emphasised Ravi.

“Is anyone concerned about the changes in demography which took place in Assam, West Bengal and Purvanchal (parts of UP and Bihar) during the last 30-40 years? Can anyone predict today that in the coming 50 years, work for partitioning the nation will not happen in these areas?” he asked.

“We should conduct a study on the sensitive demography growing in some regions and what will be its future. This issue is like a ticking time bomb. We have to think about how we will deal with this issue in the future and start finding solutions from today itself,” he said.

Speaking of the language rows in Maharashtra and Karnataka, RN Ravi said, “After independence, we started fighting with each other. One of the reasons was language. They [those advocating states based on linguistic identity] called it linguistic nationalism.”

He said the Central government has consistently emphasised that all languages deserve same respect.

“Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said on numerous occasions that all Indian languages are our national languages and we respect each one of them. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also said that at least primary education should be imparted in local languages in each state,” said Ravi.