Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday addressed concerns raised in Parliament about the alleged imposition of Hindi, stating that Hindi had no competition with other Indian languages and was “only a friend of other languages.” Shah’s remarks came in response to the ongoing debate on language issues, particularly in southern states.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Shah emphasized that Hindi strengthens all Indian languages and vice versa. "Hindi has no competition with any Indian language. Hindi is a friend of all Indian languages. All Indian languages get strengthened due to Hindi. And Hindi also gets strengthened due to all Indian languages," he stated.
Shah also announced that starting from December, he would communicate with chief ministers, MPs, and the public in their respective regional languages. "After December, all my communications with any individual, or chief minister, or minister, or member of Parliament of any state will be in the respective language of the state," he said.
The remarks were made during a debate on the Ministry of Home Affairs’ work, where concerns were raised by MDMK member Vaiko and CPM’s John Brittas regarding the alleged imposition of Hindi in southern states.
Shah criticized the Opposition for using the language issue as a political tool, saying, "Some people are running shops in the name of language to hide their corruption. Each language of India is an ornament of its culture. They are saying we are against the southern languages. How can we go against the language of any state? I come from Gujarat. Nirmala Sitharaman is from Tamil Nadu."
The language controversy has been exacerbated by tensions between the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government and the Centre, especially regarding the National Education Policy (NEP) and the three-language formula proposed under it.
Shah also addressed Tamil Nadu's stance on providing education in regional languages, particularly in fields like medicine and engineering. "The Centre has made provisions for imparting medical and engineering education in Indian languages. But the Tamil Nadu government lacks the courage to provide such education in Tamil," he said. "You (Tamil Nadu government) have commercial interests. You cannot do it. But when our government comes, we will provide engineering and medical education in Tamil in Tamil Nadu."
(This story is published from a syndicated feed)