There are real reasons to worry about that Modi election in India

[malaise]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/20/india-narendra-modi-hindi-priority-language-fears
<snip>

Narendra Modi's Hindi-only-tweets order stirs fears of India language shift
Civil servants instructed to use Hindi on social media, prompting concern in regions where Hindi is not the main language

Narendra Modi's landslide victory in the Indian general election last month marked a turning point in the country's politics – but it has also resulted in a radical change in the country's language of power.

India's home ministry has instructed civil servants in Delhi to use Hindi rather than English in all their communications on Facebook, Twitter and other social media, it emerged this week. Hindi is to also get priority on all government websites.

But the move has caused concern in regions where Hindi is not the main language, such as the southern state of Tamil Nadu, which was the setting for violent anti-Hindi protests in the mid-1960s.
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As if India doesn't have enough problems.

[PCIntern]

1. "What could possibly go wrong?"

It is almost as though someone sits in a room and says to themselves: things are not screwed up enough...what can I do to make it even worse, but CREATIVELY.

Some of this would fare well in a film or novel about an over-reaching plot to disrupt the whole world, one population segment at a time.

[malaise]

2. You are 100% correct

We have neighbors from India - the husband speaks several languages including Hindi and English, but the wife does not speak Hindi and her English has improved significantly since she moved to Jamaica. They think Modi is a raving lunatic and that this is a really bad idea.

[betsuni]

3. Naan shall pass

[Laelth]

4. Gandhi (a Gujarati like Narandra Modi) wanted Hindustani to be India's official language.

There was terrible resistance to that proposal, specifically from the native Dravidian speakers in Southern India. English became the de facto official language of India because of India's incredible linguistic diversity.

I think this is a bad move on the part of Modi's BJP government, and I am shocked that they are moving so quickly on the Hindu communalist objectives that their more extreme allies favor but that few people actually believed the BJP would pursue.

India, I should add, also came out in favor of the Shiite government of Iraq, and that is odd. India usually remains neutral regarding politics in the Islamic world. It was strange to see the Indian government take a stand on an issue like that.

I have no clue what's going on as the Indian government transitions, but it's well worth watching closely.

-Laelth

[malaise]

5. This is a really bad sign

Pity he didn't put this much energy into fighting against the rape of young women across India.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

6. modi is a horses ass, but the problem in india is the north 'rules' the south

although southerners on average are better educated and overall far less violent towards women.

delhi has a huge northern/middle of country bias, ignoring the east/south routinely.

[malaise]

7. Which is why so many Southern Indians migrate and find

very good jobs as professionals across the globe.

You are so right re the levels of education.