Q.Find out about the following (you may go to the internet, interview people, consult reference books or visit a library):

This activity asks you to research two related ideas — the general idea of language rights and India's specific legal protections. Here is accurate information to build on.

1. Linguistic human rights are the rights of individuals and communities to use, learn, and be educated in their own language, and not to be discriminated against because of the language they speak. They are recognised internationally in documents such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (1992) and the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights (Barcelona, 1996).
2. Constitutional guarantees for linguistic minorities in India include:

• Article 29 — any section of citizens with a distinct language, script or culture has the right to conserve it.
• Article 30 — the right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
• Article 347 — recognition of a language spoken by a section of the population of a state.
• Article 350A — facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage.
• Article 350B — a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities to safeguard their rights.

In addition, the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution lists the languages it officially recognises (currently 22).