Abstract

Language is not merely a tool of communication it is a repository of culture a marker of identity and a vehicle of political power. Across the globe linguistic nationalism has played a decisive role in shaping collective identities national boundaries and power structures. In the Indian context with its vast multilingual population language has been at the center of both unifying ideologies and divisive conflicts. This paper critically examines the intersection of language identity and power through the lens of linguistic nationalism. It explores how language has been instrumentalized in India’s postcolonial nation-building project the socio-political dynamics of Hindi imposition the assertion of regional linguistic identities and the broader implications of linguistic hegemony on cultural and political representation. By analyzing language movements state policies and cultural discourses this study highlights how linguistic nationalism continues to influence debates on federalism plur