Amid massive protest, Amit Shah clarifies that he never spoke of imposing Hindi

September 18: A countrywide protest was evoked following Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments last week about Hindi becoming a unifying language. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday claimed that he did not push for Hindi over regional languages.

Amit Shah claimed that he never asked for the imposition of Hindi over other regional languages. “I had only requested for learning Hindi as the second language after one’s mother tongue,” Shah said. Referring to his speech on the occasion of Hindi Divas on Saturday where he made a pitch for a common language for India, the Home Minister said that to end the confusion, people should listen to his speech carefully but “if someone wants to do politics, it is their choice.”

The BJP President had, on Saturday, maintained that “while India has many languages and every language has its own significance, it is important to have one language in the country that will become known in the world. Today, if there is one language that can unite the country in one thread, it is the most widely spoken language which is Hindi”.

Predictably, there have been sharp responses especially from the southern states. No language can be imposed as the concept of a common language was “unfortunately” not possible in the country, superstar Rajinikanth said. The CPI also described Mr. Shah’s comments as an “attack on the very concept of diversity.” Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said it was a planned attempt to divert attention from real issues, while his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee tweeted: “My best wishes to all on Hindi Diwas. We should respect all languages and cultures equally. We may learn many languages but we should never forget our mother-language.” DMK president M.K. Stalin alleged that the Centre was indulging in “autocratic imposition of Hindi.”