• phdepressed@sh.itjust.works
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    4 months ago

    India was a British colony for a long-ass time. English is the second most known language in India behind Hindi. More than 10% of the population speaks at least some English. English is also prominent among more educated fields because many indians study abroad in the US and UK. On an article written in English it is common to use photos that readers can understand. I assume there were/are also Hindi sign that just aren’t presented here.

    Hindi is spoken by about 40% of the population.

    • ѕєχυαℓ ρσℓутσρє@lemmy.sdf.orgOP
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      4 months ago

      The reason for there not being many Hindi signs is that the protest is centered in Bengal. Bengalis don’t really have a good relationship with Hindi due to political reasons (even though they have linguistic similarities). In recent times, the central government has been trying to force Hindi on all Indians, which has made the situation worse.

            • ѕєχυαℓ ρσℓутσρє@lemmy.sdf.orgOP
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              4 months ago

              I’m from near Kolkata. And yes, some do understand Hindi because it’s similar to Bangla, but people rarely speak it. And even if we do, we do it reluctantly. I speak in English with my non-Bengali friends, and it’s pretty common to do that in my cohort.

              • Stalins_Spoon@lemmygrad.ml
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                4 months ago

                In the city, they are used interchangeably, people often using both if they are speaking to people out of the state. Of the older population, people often know Bengali+Hindi bcz most Bollywood movies are in Hindi