The God Who Failed: An Assessment of Jawaharlal Nehru's Leadership

by Madhav Godbole

February 1958: I wonder if you know how an agitation is spreading in Madras against the North on the plea that the North dominates over the South and does not look after its interests. Indeed there is a party there which actually claims for separation from India. All this is rather mad. But then we have plenty of mad people in India. Rajaji also appears to have lost his head completely. He is carrying on an aggressive agitation against Hindi and in favour of English… Rajaji actually wants a whole part of the Constitution dealing with languages to be deleted and further wants English to be declared the official language of India… Rajaji has gone so far as even to hint support of the move for separating Madras state from India if his proposals are not wholly accepted. (JNMF 2010; p.346)