KTR opposes Amit Shah's Hindi language pitch; warns 'language chauvinism will boomerang'

Telangana minister KT Rama Rao on Saturday expressed his opposition to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's Hindi language push, stating that this 'language hegemony' will boomerang. Taking to Twitter, KTR stated that imposing Hindi and dissing English will be a great disservice to the youngsters who had 'global aspirations'. He urged the Home Minister to let the people of India decide what they wanted to eat, wear and which language they wanted to speak.

"Unity in diversity is our strength dear @AmitShah Ji. India is a union of states & a true ‘Vasudhaika Kutumbam’ Why don’t we let people of our great nation decide what to eat, what to wear, who to pray to, and what language to speak! Language chauvinism/hegemony will boomerang," KTR wrote on Twitter. 

Amit Shah's Hindi language push

The Telangana Minister's retort comes against the backdrop of Amit Shah's statement that the Hindi language should be accepted as an alternative to English, not to local languages. HM Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided that the medium of running the government is the official language and this will definitely increase the importance of Hindi. His remarks came when he was presiding over the 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee in New Delhi, according to a statement issued by the Union Home Ministry.

"Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English and not to local languages," he said, adding, "Unless we make Hindi flexible by accepting words from other local languages, it will not be propagated". 

The Home Minister further revealed that 70% of the agenda of the Cabinet is prepared in Hindi, adding that now the time has come to make the official language Hindi an important part of the unity of the country. Several political parties, especially from the South, have expressed strong criticism over accepting Hindi as an alternative to English. The remarks have drawn the ire of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, former Karnataka Chief Minister, and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy, among others who have accused the BJP of "damaging India's diversity." 

(With agency inputs)