The uniting power of Hindi

Indians display remarkable apathy to excesses by the state -except when at stake is their language

But let me make it clear to you that the state language of Pakistan is going to be Urdu and no other language. Anyone who tries to mislead you is merely the enemy of Pakistan. Without one state language, no nation can remain tied up solidly together and function. Look at the history of other countries. Therefore, so far as the state language is concerned, Pakistan’s language should be Urdu.”
 
The speaker was Pakistan’s Governor General MA Jinnah, addressing half a million Bengalis in Dhaka on March 28, 1948.
 
This was, of course, arrogance — Jinnah was a