Amit Shah’s Statement Over Hindi Is Nothing But A Divergence, Not Unity

By
Pramod Hegde
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Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that people of different states should communicate with each other in Hindi was strongly criticized by people all over the country. From politicians to common citizens, BJP leaders’ remarks drew a lot of responses.

Amit Shah’s statement drew a massive criticism 

At the 37th meeting of the Committee of Parliament on Official Language on Thursday, Shah stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had decided that the medium of running the government should be the official language and that this would increase the importance of Hindi.

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“Now the time has come to make the official language an important part of the unity of the country. When citizens of states who speak other languages communicate with each other, it should be in the language of India,” Shah said.

Giving a strong reaction the Congress on Friday accused Home Minister Amit Shah of trying to impose Hindi, and said in doing so he is doing a harm to the language.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said Hindi is ‘Raj Bhasha’ (official language) and not ‘Rashtra Bhasha’ (national language). “Hindi imperialism will be the death bell for India. I’m very comfortable with Hindi, but I don’t want it rammed down anybody’s throat. Amit Shah is doing a harm to Hindi by imposing it,” Ramesh said on Twitter.

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Response from South India

Shah’s statement also brought criticism from down south. Kanimozhi, Lok Sabha MP from Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, said, “Bringing the idea of one language will not help unite the nation but split it. The Union government and ministers should be aware of the history of anti-Hindi agitations and the sacrifices made for that,” she said.

NDA ally Pattali Makkal Katchi leader Ramadoss said Shah’s statement was “shocking.” “It means nothing but Hindi imposition. Even as Hindi may be the language of majority states, Jawaharlal Nehru accepted the demands of the non-Hindi speaking states and allowed English to continue as the link language,” Ramadoss said.

Karnataka Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also made his statement on the same. He said, “Hindi is neither a national language nor a link language. In the federal system, one can’t impose any language forcefully. We don’t have any problem learning other languages.”

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Netizens reaction 

Meanwhile, netizens also expressed their opinion regarding Union HM’s remark on making ‘Hindi as an alternative to English’.

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