Language as a political issue in modern India could be traced back to the colonial period. However, it was in the 1940s and 50s, during the consolidation of Indian nationalism and later when the subcontinent was reorganized on the basis of linguistic identity, massive political energies were mobilized around the issue of language. From the 1980s through the 90s and after, as we all know, very different questions such as gender, caste and sub-region have occupied the centre space of politics in India, and such questions have been ably foregrounded by the respective feminist, dalit and the separate Telangana movements. Considering this history, it appears as though the language issue in the present could only be of some historical interest. But we believe that it is not really so. That is because the language question has not faded away entirely from the political domain. In fact, it has resurfaced in the form of serious intellectual debates in all these above mentioned movements, whether it is the question of formation of gendered subjectivities, or ‘obscenity’ attributed to the language of dalit literature, or the domination of Andhra Telugu vis-à-vis the aspirations for a separate Telangana state. Also, the issue of marginalization of Urdu/Dakkani after the accession of the erstwhile Hyderabad State to the Indian Union in 1948 and a further deterioration of its status after the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956, vis-à-vis the survival of Muslims in Telangana has been simmering. What this broadsheet has tried to do is first to recapitulate and consolidate on a single platter, these extremely significant and thought provoking debates which have been otherwise scattered. Second, it has tried to get new writers to contribute, bringing in new perspectives. These two together should provide the reader a comprehensive picture of the issues around the questions of language, region and community. It is gratifying to see that the contributors to this issue are people who have serious investment in the language issue and we are glad that all of them responded positively to our request and took time to write for the broadsheet.

As one can make out from what is said above and from looking at the contributions to this broadsheet, the focus is on the specific local political issues. Very few articles indeed deal with “pan-Indian” issues such as language standardization, dalits and English, the recent controversy of introducing Sanskrit in central schools and so on. Even those do not generalize the issue in an abstract way but make connections with the everyday local issues. Since this focus on the local (with the awareness that the local is not unconnected with the outside world) determined our choice of the writers/articles, understandably writings which deal with debates on many other Indian languages, however important they might be, have not been included in this issue.

Moreover, this issue is brought out at a time when efforts are being made by various individuals, institutions and the Telangana State to envision and consolidate what could be broadly termed as Telangana Telugu. For example, a committee has been constituted by the state to bring out school text books written in the local idiom. Some newspapers and other media also seem to be interested in promoting Telangana Telugu. However, although one could perceive some scattered local expressions mixed with Standard (Andhra) Telugu in the print and visual media, a distinctive Telangana Telugu for discursive purposes is yet to be created. It is also hoped that the state will formulate a new policy regarding Urdu/Dakkani. It is precisely this historical moment that makes this broadsheet significant and appropriate. However, the articles do not put forward a single perspective and, in fact, as you read on, you will find differing views on the issues in question, although by no means they cover the entire diversity of positions.

Putting together this broadsheet has been a great pleasure and an extremely fruitful exercise for us. In this process, as editors of this issue, we discovered pieces of writing on language which we had never known before, revisited some of the old debates in the light of the recent political developments, interviewed and elicited the experiences of people who were/are passionate about creating radical literature and/or participated in social movements and so on. Members of the resident editorial team also found it worthwhile to discuss some of the issues that the broadsheet as a bilingual text poses for the question of translation. We also discovered some fresh talent—first time translators! Also, as you can see, some of us have also collaborated in translating when we realized that we possessed the required intellectual resources only in one of the languages involved, and while translating we benefited from each other. Translating Joshua’s poetry was a challenge but also a pleasure, and it also made us realize that we need to take translation as a political practice much more seriously than we do at the moment.

 

N. Manohar, M.A. Moid and Gogu Shyamala
The editorial team thanks the writers as well as the translators