‘Do not turn India into Hindia’: Tamil Nadu CM Stalin slams union home minister Amit Shah
On Hindi Diwas, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that Hindi language is a friend of all languages and not a competitor. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has reacted to this. He said that don't make India a Hindi. The chief minister said the BJP's "every attempt to convert India into Hindi" should be stopped.
Stalin said, “All 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule should be declared as official languages of the government. Hindi is neither the national language nor the only official language. We should celebrate Indian Language Day instead of Hindi Day."
Referring to the National Education Policy, the Chief Minister said, “The Center should bridge the huge gap in resources spent for the development of Hindi versus other languages. Center only implements Hindi and Sanskrit through NEP.
In the statement on which the Chief Minister made this remark, Home Minister Amit Shah had said that some people are spreading false information that Hindi language is a competitor of any other language. He had said that Hindi is not a competitor of any language but a friend of all languages.
He was addressing the All India Official Language Conference on Hindi Diwas in Surat, Gujarat. In this he said, “I want to make one thing very clear. Some people are spreading false information that Hindi and Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil, Hindi and Marathi are competitors. Hindi cannot be a competitor to any other language in the country. You must understand that Hindi is the largest language in the world. Hindi is the friend of all the languages of the country.
Let us tell you that Tamil Nadu has been accusing the Center of trying to impose Hindi language for a long time. This division of the language had widened after the state's fight against the Centre's alleged plan to introduce Hindi as a third language in schools. After the anti-Hindi protests in the state in the 1960s, the then Prime Minister had assured to keep official communication between the Center and the states in the English language.