On the account of Hindi Diwas on Saturday, September 15, Union Home Minister Amit Shah in a tweet said, “The way to reunite Indians is by raising the slogan of one nation, one language.” His statement was soon surrounded by controversy with opposition leaders calling it an RSS’ attempt to the imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states.
आज दिल्ली में आयोजित ‘हिंदी दिवस समारोह-2019’ में भाग लिया।
भारत की अनेक भाषाएं और बोलियां हमारी सबसे बड़ी ताकत है। लेकिन देश की एक भाषा ऐसी हो, जिससे विदेशी भाषाएँ हमारे देश पर हावी ना हों इसलिए हमारे संविधान निर्माताओं ने एकमत से हिंदी को राजभाषा के रूप में स्वीकार किया। pic.twitter.com/nJpesiYEFN
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) September 14, 2019
Learning his tweet and the speech to the school students, the general secretary of CPI (M), Sitaram Yechury said, “It’s the RSS ideology to imposing Hindi language all over the nation which is not accepted”.
The RSS’ slogan of ‘Hindu, Hindi, Hindustan’ cannot keep India united. It cannot seek to replace our Constitutional tenets and promote national insecurity. https://t.co/f38y2Y7TRz pic.twitter.com/vtI6qMgUsT
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) September 15, 2019
Amit Shah further said that the dream of Gandhi and Sardar Vallavbhai Patel can be only realized if the country people start speaking this language often.
On the same day at a Hindi diwas celebration event he said, “Though I feel that the variety of languages and dialects is one in every of the largest strengths of our country, there’s a requirement for our country to own one language, in order that foreign languages do not notice a place. This can be why our freedom fighters pictured Hindi as ‘Raj bhasha’.”
Opposition Criticises Remarks
Kerala CM, Pinarayi Vijayan called shah’s statement a ‘war cry’ as in North-East Indian states and south Indian states, Hindi isn’t the first language, and they have a very different language and diversified culture. He further in his facebook post said shah on the name of the language is trying to develop Sangh’s ideology and create a battlefield.
No Indian should feel alienated because of language. India’s strength is its ability to embrace diversity. Sangh Parivar must relinquish divisive policies. They must realize that people can see through the ploy; that this is an attempt to divert attention from the real problems.
— Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) September 15, 2019
Following Shah’s statement, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin and former Karnataka chief ministers Siddaramaiah and HD Kumaraswamy also protested and showed their disapproval through their tweets after which a war of tweets started between the central government and opposition leaders.
Tweeting in Kannada, former chief minister Siddaramaiah lashed out saying, “The lie that Hindi is a national language should stop. Let it be known to all that it is just like Kannada, one among the 22 official languages of India. You cannot promote a language by spreading lies and fake information. Languages flourish by affection and respect for each other.”
It is a conspiracy to prevent non-hindi ppl from getting bank jobs. We have to teach @BJP4India a lesson about the power of linguistic diversity.
What are the representatives from @BJP4Karnataka doing? Do they also subscribe to the idea of superiority of Hindi? Shame!!#IBPSmosa
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) September 13, 2019
