Bihar CM Nitish Kumar loses cool over English signboard

The incident occurred after Mr. Kumar saw English signboards at the inauguration of a model hospital building in Bihar’s Banka district

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar addresses a public function at Patna University. | Photo Credit: PTI

What was to be a formal event to inaugurate a model hospital in Bihar turned into a angry declamation against the English language after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lost his cool over the use of English signboards within the hospital premises.

At the inauguration of the new building of Sadar Hospital in Bihar’s Banka district, Mr. Kumar saw a board with the words ‘Digital Library - Banka’ posted outside the hospital’s digital library. Mr. Kumar became livid at the sight of the board, and District Magistrate Anshul Kumar and other officials in attendance bore the brunt of his wrath.

“Who has put up this board? Change this board immediately. I have been observing that English is being used in government functions. You people are just finishing off the importance of the Hindi language. Hindi is our fundamental language,” Mr. Kumar said. 

Addressing the District Magistrate, Mr. Kumar further said, “Many people write in English, sab bakwas hai [it’s all nonsense]. Many a time, I have made my objections evident regarding this issue but I find it is still being done. What’s the matter after all, are the Britishers still ruling? It’s been a long time since the country got Independence but you people are trying to finish off Hindi language. I really don’t like it; all the boards are printed in English. Change it immediately.” 

Mr. Kumar also clarified that he bore no ill will towards the English language per se. “I have also learned English as an engineering student. Everything was done in English during my engineering days. I don’t have any problem with English,” he said.

This is not the first instance of Mr. Kumar getting cross over the use of English in his presence.

In February, Mr. Kumar had blasted a farmer from Lakhisarai during the launch of the 4th agriculture road map and consultation programme at Bapu Sabhagar in Patna. After the farmer employed some English words as part of his speech, Mr. Kumar had slammed him while declaring that “this language [English] had ruled India”. 

Later in March, he had gotten furious after seeing a display board inside the Bihar Legislative Council in English and had asked Council chairman Devesh Chandra Thakur to replace it with a board printed in Hindi.   

Mr. Kumar is seemingly following the path his socialist predecessors had laid out. Many socialist leaders of a certain vintage, from Uttar Pradesh’s Ram Manohar Lohia to Bihar’s Karpoori Thakur, advocated in favour of using one’s native language in lieu of English, so that people who were denied an English language education did not feel excluded from public life. Mr. Thakur, during his many Ministerial stints had abolished English as a compulsory subject to pass at the matriculation level in 1967, under the Chief Ministership of Mahamaya Prasad Sinha. 

Thakur was inspired from Lohia who had launched Angrezi Hatao (Away with English) campaign way back in 1967 with the slogan Angrezi mein kaam na hoga, phir se desh ghulam na hoga (There will be no work in English; The country won’t be enslaved again).