Dalit avitivist Chandra Bhan Prasad believes "the British came too late and left too early". In his crusade for the Dalits in the caste-ridden Indian society, Bhan, is now making a case of uplifting the down-trodden Dalits through championing the English language. In this 2nd part of his interview (I have provided the related link to it; Part 1 was "Indian languages carry the legacy of caste" [1]), he makes some pretty accurate but rather controversial observations about the advantages the English-speaking Indian has over this only-Indian-language-speaking counterparts -

"Those in India today who are considered advanced are generally those who have distanced themselves from their traditions and culture. They know that Western societies are a cradle of modern civilisation, technology and science. Indians should adopt Western society's idea of equality, modern science and knowledge.

Measure India's progress in the IT sector after deleting English from India's map. English helps in some way or other.

It was made possible because they know English! English is the key factor behind their success in Silicon Valley. (In answer to the question- "But you are making a political issue of language. Those IT guys, both, Brahmins and Dalits, know English as well as their mother tongue. In Silicon Valley they have transformed and transplanted Tamil, Telugu and Gujarati culture.")

Let all Indian languages wither away and let all Indians speak English by 2060 or so. Many of the regional problems will disappear. The fights between Kannada and Telugu or Tamil will be solved. India will be a better nation."

These 2 interviews are certainly excellent resources as triggers for debate and discussion in for middle/high school Social Studies!.

Reading his interview led me to think about the state of Indian language teaching in our schools. (I have posted an elog earlier on "Hindi as a Second Language [2]") ---

Is there a case for re-thinking the Indian language curriculum for the English-medium schools in our country? For all of us aware of the state of Indian language teaching/learning in schools - it comes as no shock that Indian languages are the least favored subjects of almost every child in English-medium schools. Children would rather learn a foreign language than suffer through a second/third Indian language class. How many of our kids will read and write in Indian languages in a few decades' time? The trend is clear and it's not hard to foresee an India 20 years from now when one will be able to get by quite comfortably without knowing to read or write in any Indian language, including, Hindi. Should we then just focus on teaching our kids to at least speak fluently in one Indian language? Or what else should we be doing or not doing?

Whether or not there is merit in Chandra Bhan's argument, aren't we actually seeing our Indian languages withering away in our own lifetime?