Finally, Malayalam has become the sole official language of Kerala. With the signing of the Malayalam Language Bill 2025 by Governor Rajendra Arlekar, a comprehensive language law, one of the state’s long-standing dreams, is becoming a reality; it is also an important milestone in the history of the development of the Malayalam language. States divided on the basis of language are the basic essence of our country’s federalism. Even then, in many states, language discourses also become indicators of religions and cultures. But that is not the case in Kerala. The cultural logic of this country is Malayalam. As such, it is no small matter that the Malayalam language becomes the ‘first language and official language’. This is a historic moment that all Keralites can be proud of.
The Malayalam Language Bill was introduced in the Assembly by repealing the Kerala Official Languages Act of 1969. According to the latter, both Malayalam and English were the official languages of Kerala. With the new act, in addition to Malayalam becoming the sole official language, Malayalam has also been made the compulsory first language in all government and aided schools in the state from classes 1 to 10. Goals such as introducing a uniform script layout in Malayalam and making all government orders fully in Malayalam will be realized with the new law coming into effect. In addition, radical changes will be seen at the administrative level as well. The ultimate goal of this law is to make the mother tongue capable so that any common person can become part of power. It is also important to remember that such a law did not come about suddenly. There is a history of a long struggle behind it. This act can also be considered a natural outcome of the language struggles in a united Kerala. In the last 20 years, Kerala has witnessed many organised efforts to make Malayalam the ‘first language’. All the protests that took place in Kerala under the leadership of the United Malayalam Movement were notable. The most important of them was the protest held in 2010 at the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram demanding that Malayalam be made the first language. Within a few months, the then Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan issued an order making Malayalam the first language. The subsequent Oommen Chandy government made the Malayalam University a reality; in 2013, it declared Malayalam as the superior language. Even then, the mother tongue was outside the Secretariat, the courts and the schools.
It was at this stage that the demand to make Malayalam the administrative language gained strength. On December 17, 2015, the Kerala Assembly unanimously passed the Malayalam Language Bill. However, the Governor was not ready to sign it. It gathered dust in the Raj Bhavan and the Rashtrapati Bhavan for almost ten years. Later, the bill was amended to eliminate loopholes and was passed by the House again in October last year and then the Governor gave his assent. By saying this, it is not to be assumed that the Governor simply signed it. It should be remembered that even after the bill was passed, a strong protest was organised in the capital city under the leadership of the United Malayalam Movement and various cultural organisations to make it a reality. In short, the new Malayalam Language Act is the result of many small and big language protests that lasted for a decade and a half.
There are those who criticize this by portraying it as mere mother tongue parochialism. This is a complete misunderstanding. This is not a procedure of imposing any language on the people. Rather, it is a process of forcing the authorities to conduct governance in the language of the common people. This will strengthen our democracy. Naturally, in this context, the issue of linguistic minorities will be raised. The law does give special consideration to them. According to the 2011 census, the mother tongue of 97 percent of the people in Kerala is Malayalam. The bill embraces those from categories falling within the remaining three percent. This is made clear in Chapter 3 of the bill. Students whose mother tongue is other than Malayalam can study in the languages of their choice and are available in the schools of the state as per the national curriculum. In addition, students who come to Kerala from abroad and other states to study have been exempted from writing Malayalam in the 9th, 10th and higher secondary examinations. In other words, the mother tongue of the majority is not being imposed here at all. Not only that, but a liberal approach has also been adopted in many matters. The law stipulates that the signboards of commercial, trade and industrial establishments, trusts, hospitals, laboratories, entertainment centres and hotels of or operating with the approval of the government and local bodies should be half in Malayalam and the second half in English, and not solely in Malayalam. There is no doubt that this very progressive step will be truly beneficial for the growth of the Malayalam language and the disciplines based on it. Even then, this law cannot be said to be comprehensive. It should be remembered that the state's courts are still outside the mother tongue. When the official language becomes Malayalam, the court language also needs to be completely in Malayalam. However, the bill only says that the medium of proceedings in the district courts will be made Malayalam in a phased manner with the permission of the High Court. This is inadequate. All the court proceedings, including in the High Court, need to be in the mother tongue.