Moturi Satyanarayana

Satyanarayana Moturi (Telugu: మోటూరి సత్యనారాయణ) (b: February 2, 1902 - d. March 6, 1995) was an Indian freedom fighter alongside Mohandas Gandhi until 1947, a member of the Constituent Assembly of India which drafted the Indian Constitution, and a member of the Rajya Sabha (the Upper House in the Indian government) until 1966. He was instrumental in making Hindi an official language in the Indian Constitution, while tolerating the other major Indian languages. He devoted his later life to helping spread Hindi in South India.

Early life, Family, and Education

Moturi was born in Dondapadu village in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, India. After his primary education, he studied English, Telugu, and Hindi at the National College in Machilipatnam, achieving a high proficiency in them. He joined the Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachara Sabha as a volunteer and gradually became the Secretary and Principal Secretary of that organization. A major mission in his life would be to efficiently promote the growth of Hindi in South India between 1936 to 1961. He married Shrimati Suryakanta Devi and had three sons and four daughters with her.

Activism in the Indian Independence Movement (1925-1947)

Moturi participated in Quit India Movement in 1942 and was jailed.

During this time, Moturi was an active promoter of the Hindi language. He was the Editor of "Hindi Pracharak" (1926-36), "Hindi Prachar Samachar" (1938-61) and Dakshina Bharat (1947-61). He organised many Institutions all over India such as "Dakshina Bharata Hindi Prachara Sabha" of Madras (1926-61). He was the Founding Secretary of "Telugu Basha Samithi" of Madras and Hyderabad.

Framer of the Indian Constitution (1948-50)

After India became independent from Britain, Moturi was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India from 1948-50. He served as a Member of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution for its Language Section. He was a key figure in the divisive debates on: what to make the official language of India (Hindi, English, or a number of local languages such as Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, etc.); how to set up a pluralistic civil service examination system; and how to balance local languages with national languages at different levels of government.

Member of India's Parliament (1950-66)

After Indian Independence, from 1950-52, Moturi was a member of the Provisional Parliament of India as an MP. After the Indian Constitution was drafted, Moturi was nominated by the President of India as a Rajya Sabha (Upper House) member. He served twice between 1954 and 1966 (3-4-1954 to 2-4-1960 and 3-4-1960 to 2-4-1966). He was also a member of: the Madras Legislative Council (1952-54); the Central Advisory Board of Education of the Govt. of India; the Madras University Senate (1952-53); the Central Official Languages Commission (1954-56).

Scholarly Interests and Propagation of Hindi through India

Moturi had many scholarly interests. He was the Chief Editor of Encyclopedia on Social Sciences in Hindi published by the Hindi Vikas Samithi, Madras. He was the founding secretary of the Telugu Bhasha Samiti. He also founded the Hindi Vikas Samiti and published 'Vishwa Vignana Samhita.' Finally, Moturi was an editor for a comprehensive encyclopedia published in his native language of Telugu.

Awards and Death

Later in his life, Moturi won many awards. He was a recipient of the Padma Shri award in 1954 and the Padma Bhushan award in 1962, both from the Government of India. Andhra University honored him with its Kala Prapoorna award in 1977.

Moturi lived to the age of 93. When a family member asked the nonagenarian Moturi about the secret of his longevity, his brief response was: "Listen more, eat less."

Legacy

As an activist for Indian Independence, a framer of the Indian Constitution, and a Parliamentarian, Moturi was a key figure in India's political history. However, some people criticize his decision to support Hindi, and not English, as the official language of India. The awkward provisions in the Indian Constitution and a later push by pro-Hindi hardliners led to "language riots" in the 1960s in southern states such as Tamil Nadu, where more than 60 people died. Several students immolated themselves protesting the forced use of Hindi as the national language. While English has become the de facto national language of India by 2010, the Indian Constitution has continued to serve as the fundamental basis of the India's polity and society and its drafting was a major accomplishment.

References

• Luminaries of 20th Century, Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad, 2005.
• List of Rajya Sabha Members
• Transcript of the Official Indian Language Debates of the Constituent Assembly of India, September 14, 1949

Further Reading

• Austin, Granville. The Indian Constitution, Cornerstone of a Nation. New Delhi: OUP India, 1999. ISBN 78019564958
• Bipan Chandra, Mridula Mukherjee, and Aditya Mukherjee. India Since Independence, Revised Edition. New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2008.

Persondata
Name	Moturi, Satyanarayana
Alternative names
Short description	Satyanarayana Moturi was an Indian freedom fighter, associate of Mohandas Gandhi, member of the Constituent Assembly of India which drafted the Indian Constitution, and a member of the Rajya Sabha (the Upper House in the Indian government). He was instrumental in making Hindi an official language in the Indian Constitution, while tolerating other major Indian languages, and he devoted his later life to help spread Hindi in South India.
Date of birth	September 1902
Place of birth	Dondapadu, Andhra Pradesh
Date of death	March 1995
Place of death	Madras, Tamil Nadu