Why Modi government’s Hindi push continues despite a reduced majority

“Bharat, I understand. Nyaya, I understand. But what is Sanhita? I do not know,” said NR Elango, Rajya Sabha member from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, explaining why he and his party colleague have challenged the “sanskritised titles” of India’s new criminal laws in the Madras High Court.

One of the laws is the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which replaced the Indian Penal Code on July 1. The other two share similar dense Hindi titles – the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, which supplanted the Indian Evidence Act, and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure.

While introducing the new laws as bills in Parliament last year, Home Minister Amit Shah had claimed they are anti-colonial – a claim that Elango, a practising lawyer, dismissed. “By and large, the old laws have been kept intact with some modifications and restructuring,” he said. “The real intention seems to be renaming the laws.”

But it is not just the three new criminal laws – under the Bharatiya Janata Party, many Central government schemes have also been given Hindi names. A centrally-sponsored scheme to establish schools is called PM-Shri, public health centres are called Arogya Mandirs, the housing scheme is PM-Awas, farmers are given income support under the PM-Kisan...

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