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• The need for strong government had been further reinforced by the events of
partition. Many leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, BR Ambedkar, Gopalaswami
Ayyangar etc advocated for strong centre.
• Before Partition the Congress had agreed to grant considerable autonomy to the
provinces. This was agreed to satisfy the Muslim League. But after partition, there
was no political pressure and voilence aftermath of partition gave further fillip to
centralised power.

The Language of the Nation:

• In the Constituent Assembly issues over national language was intensely debated
over months. Language was an emotional issue and it was related to culture and
heritage of the particular region.
• By 1930s, Congress and Mahatma Gandhi accepted Hindustani as National
language. Hindustani language was easy to understand and was a popular
language among large section of India. Hindustani developed with the interaction
of diverse culture and language.
• Hindustani language was chiefly made up of Hindi and Urdu but it also contained
words of another language. But unfortunately, the language also suffered from
communal politics. Gradually, Hindi and Urdu started moving apart. Hindi started
using more Sanskritise words similarly Urdu became more persianised. Even
then, Mahatma Gandhi retained his faith in Hindustani. He felt that Hindustani was
a composite language for all Indians.

A Plea for Making Hindi as National Language:

• RV Dhulekar, a member of constituent assembly made a strong plea to make
Hindi as national language and language in which constitution should be made.
The plea evoked strong opposition.
• Language committee of assembly produced a report in which it tried to resolve the
issue by deciding that Hindi in devanagri script would be an official language but
transition to Hindi world be a gradual process and for initial 15 years after
Independence, English to be used as official language.
• Provinces were allowed to choose one language for official work within the
province.

The Fear of Domination of Hindi:

• SG Durgabai, a member of constituent assembly said that there is intense
opposition against Hindi in South India.
• After the eruption of controversy regarding the language, there is a fear in the
opponent that Hindi is antagonistic to provincial language and it cuts the root of
provincial language and cultural heritage associated with it.
• She had accepted Hindustani as language of people but the language is being
changed. Words from Urdu and regional languages were removed. This move