The southern states reacted angrily to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s appeal to broaden the reach of Hindi to all parts of India, calling it “the only language that can unify the entire country”. DMK chief MK Stalin demanded on Saturday that the Prime Minister intervene and threatened “a nationwide agitation,” while the Congress in Karnataka called Shah’s statements “false propaganda” and AIMIM in Telangana said “India is much more than Hindi, Hindu, Hindutva”. Meanwhile, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said the statement made by Home Minister is inappropriate.
Asserting that Hindi is not India’s national language, former Karnataka chief minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Friday accused the ruling BJP of trying to unleash its agenda of “cultural terrorism” against non-Hindi speaking states.
Taking offence to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s comment regarding the official language, the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka assembly accused him of betraying the former’s home state Gujarat and mother-tongue Gujarati for Hindi, for his political agenda.
“As a Kannadiga, I take strong offence to @HMOIndia @AmitShah’s comment on Official language & medium of communication. Hindi is not our National Language & we will never let it to be,” Siddaramaiah tweeted with the tagline “#IndiaAgainstHindiImposition”
Others, such as ex-CM HD Kumaraswamy of the JD(S), questioned why only Hindi Divas was marked and why no other languages’ festivities were held.
“Keep in mind that Kannadigas are part of India’s federal system as well. Kannada is an official language of India, just as Hindi. When are you going to celebrate Kannada Divas?” Kumaraswamy sent out a tweet.
Tamil Nadu
The majority of Tamil Nadu’s political groups responded fiercely. Whatever the pressure, the ruling AIADMK, a BJP partner, stated the state would maintain to the two-language model of teaching in Tamil and English established by former CMS CN Annadurai, MGR, and J Jayalalithaa. In a statement, Stalin said Shah’s remarks amounted to treating non-Hindi speakers as second-class citizens. No one will be permitted to change the country’s strength of unity in diversity, he declared.
Shah’s speech, according to opposition parties in Karnataka, was part of a plot to impose Hindi on regional language-speaking states in the name of India’s unity. “Hindi is similar to any of the country’s 22 regional languages, including Kannada. It is a misnomer to call Hindi a national language. Siddaramaiah, the leader of the Congress legislative party, called this “fake propaganda.”
Stalin asked that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi intervene” to put an end to the brawl in Chennai. “All languages listed in the Constitution’s 8th Schedule should be accorded equal weight. If the Centre does not backtrack, the DMK would hold an all-party meeting and begin a statewide agitation once more OPEN IN APP of Hindi, “Stalin stated the following. Later, he told reporters that the subject will be discussed at a high-level DMK meeting, and a plan of action will be drawn up.
Hyderabad
“Hindi isn’t every Indian’s’mother tongue,'” said Asaduddin Owaisi, the chairman of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) in Hyderabad, citing Article 29 of the Indian Constitution, which grants persons with distinct languages, scripts, or cultures the freedom to preserve them. Could you perhaps attempt to appreciate the richness and beauty of the numerous mother tongues that pepper this land? Every Indian has the right to their own language, script, and culture under Article 29.
Kerala
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday termed Union Home Minister Amit Shah`s remarks on the Hindi language “inappropriate” saying that people cannot accept it if he is trying to impose Hindi on them.
“The statement made by Home Minister is inappropriate. If you try to impose Hindi on us by destroying the regional language, we cannot accept it. That will destroy the unity and oneness of the country,” the chief minister said.
Vijayan said that such a move will affect the culture because Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu are like heartbeats for the people in their respective states.
Singer AR Rahman’s Twist Leading To Twitter Debate
The main opposition in Tamil Nadu, AIADMK on Saturday said people may learn Hindi on their own volition but imposition of the language is unacceptable.
An image posted by Oscar winning music composer A R Rahman on Tamil language has meanwhile led to an animated debate in the social media on languages.
Singer Rahman posted image’s caption ‘Tamizhanangu’ is obviously a pointer to invocation song to mother Tamil.
A line, appearing as a footnote to the image, is from a popular poem of celebrated Tamil nationalist poet Barathidasan and it denotes that Tamil language serves as the root to the rights of the Tamil people.
An artistic depiction of a white saree clad woman in the centre, against a background of red is seen as a subtle reference to mother Tamil and opposition to imposition of Hindi.
While a section of social media users lauded Rahman saying he has posted this image with a red background to denote opposition to Hindi and full support to Tamil, there were others who questioned him on the intent behind posting the image.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
