EK DEV ANAND KA DESH KE LIYE BAASHA KA APNA FORMULA ... BY ALI EPTER JOHN

Language and religion ( Or you can put it other way round) has always been an obstacle in the path of progress in our country. And if there was one star who warned people to take steps to stop these two evil , it was the ever green and the ever so enlightened Dev Anand - Ali Peter John

Soon after independence , there were riots in almost every part of the country and most of them were rooted in religion or language . The worst affected states were Tamil Nadu ( Madras) , Hyderabad , Kerala and Gujarat.

In places like Madras , even the Governor and the Chief Minister refused to speak in Hindi and the common man hated those who spoke Hindi and taxi drivers and other public sector workers refused to take any complaints that were made in Hindi.

I am speaking not officially, but from my personal experiences and the experiences of my own and dear ones.

This growing difference between Indian and Indian on the basis of religion and religion and language and language within the country was growing more dangerous than the dangers from many enemies from outside.

Dev Anand was a rising star who was growing into a legend in the 50s and he was not just a singing, dancing and crying star. He was an enlightened entertainer who had a mind if own and had an opinion on every subject associated with a growing of democracy that India was .

The language formula which were ravaging the country struck him and he spent sleepless nights and restless days trying to find a solution to this burning problem.

And he finally found a solution and made it known to one and all , including the President, the Prime Minister, the intelligentsia and the media. His formula was simple.

He said that Hindi should be the language of the country, English should be a must language taught in every school, college and institution because English was the only language that could keep India connected with the world and all the developments and progress made in different parts of the world .

He once told me , " if thd leaders and the people had even tried to follow my simple formula, things would not have been bad as they are today"

When Dev Anand formed his National Party, this three language formula was one if it's prime planks , but who cared for a good man's plans for a better India?

If they had perhaps put his language policy into action, we would not have Ajay Devgn raising an issue with Keecha Sujit and Kangana Ranaut from the hills of Himachal would not ask to have Sanskrit as the national language in 2022 .