PANAJI
It was as if Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a page from Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's book on Saturday when the former backed the use of local languages in court proceedings.
Modi, while addressing the inaugural session of a joint conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts in the national capital on Saturday, said: “We need to encourage local languages in courts. This will not only increase the confidence of common citizens in the justice system but they will feel more connected to it".
Modi also said that the judicial process in the country will only be even more strengthened with the use of local languages in its proceedings, while adding that local languages should also be pursued in the field of technical education.
Modi's comment comes days after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at an international Hindi conference here on April 15 had backed Konkani as a medium of communication for court proceedings in Goa.
"In Goa, only English was used for legislature language, it is now in English and Konkani. The Bombay High Court branch in Goa, functions in English. When we go to the judiciary to seek justice, it should work in Konkani," the Chief Minister had said.
"It will be our endeavour to ensure that it should function in English as well as in Konkani. We will write to the High Court," he had added.
"Goa is known for four languages. We speak in Konkani, we prefer to read Marathi newspapers, we prefer to watch films in Hindi and while writing we prefer to use English. This is a State which is always known for four languages," Sawant had also said.
Over the last month, there has been a national debate over the aggressive promotion of Hindi, as a national language throughout India, even as politicians as well as well-known creative and film personalities from the South appear to have expressed opposition to the concerted shift.
