The Opposition Slams Amit Shah’s National Language Pitch as “Hindi Imperialism”

On Friday, opposition parties slammed Home Minister Amit Shah’s plea for the Hindi language, calling it an attack on India’s pluralism and vowing to oppose any attempt to impose “Hindi imperialism.”

The main opposition party, the Congress, accused Shah of attempting to impose Hindi and said he was doing a damage to the language by doing so.

Jairam Ramesh, a Congress member, said that Hindi is ‘Raj Bhasha’ (official language) rather than ‘Rashtra Bhasha’ (national language), as Rajnath Singh had stated in Parliament while he was home minister.

The death knell for India will be Hindi imperialism. I speak Hindi fluently, but I don’t want it forced down anyone’s throat. By enforcing it, Amit Shah is doing a harm to Hindi,” Ramesh wrote on Twitter.

Abhishek Singhvi, a Congress spokesman, claimed that the home minister tried to preach about Hindi when he shouldn’t have.

The home minister tried to get us to learn Hindi. In Hindi, I’ve already responded. He told reporters at a press conference, “I am a strong fan of Hindi, but not of imposition, confrontational politics, or divisive politics.”

He also claimed that by bringing up the topic of Hindi, the home minister is attempting to distract attention away from inflation and rising prices.

No, neither inflation nor unemployment will be solved by your Hindi sermons. Digression, diversion, and derailing are your goals. Second, your goal is to instil mutual distrust through imposition, force, and other means “he stated

Don’t start a fire…don’t preach to us, “he stated

Shah stated that the moment has come for Hindi to become a significant part of the country’s unity, and that it should be embraced as an alternative to English rather than local languages.

MK Stalin, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, whose DMK has been at the forefront of anti-Hindi agitations that have frequently turned violent, said Shah’s anti-Hindi stance was incompatible with India’s “integrity and pluralism.”

Mr Stalin reacted angrily to Shah’s April 7 statement, saying it would jeopardise the country’s integrity.

Stalin, who is also the DMK president, stated on Twitter that the BJP’s senior command is always attempting to undermine India’s pluralism.

“Does @AmitShah believe that a ‘Hindi state’ is sufficient and that Indian states are unnecessary?” he inquired. A single language, according to the Tamil Nadu chief minister, will not aid the cause of unification.

“You’re repeating the same error over and over again. You, on the other hand, will not succeed!” Mr. Stalin sent out a tweet.

West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress has stated that any attempt by the BJP-led Centre to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states will be met with opposition.

Trinamool said Mr Shah’s vision of “one nation, one language, and one religion” will remain unfulfilled because Hindi is not India’s national language.

“Any attempt by Amit Shah and the BJP to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states will be met with opposition. Such a thing will never be accepted by the people of this country, which is so diverse.

“Even India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, emphasised that non-Hindi-speaking states will not be forced to take Hindi till they are prepared to accept it,” said senior Trinamool lawmaker Sougata Roy.

Attempts to project Hindi as the national language, according to another senior Trinamool veteran, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, are against the “spirit of the Constitution.”

“We oppose Hindi imperialism’s objective… this is how fascism spreads. Imposing Hindi is incompatible with the principles of federalism “Mr. Ray explained.

“Hindi imperialism” will not be accepted, according to pro-Bengali advocacy groups such as ‘Bangla Pokkho.’

Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah claimed that Hindi is not India’s national language and accused the BJP of attempting to implement its “cultural terrorism” plan against non-Hindi-speaking states.

“As a Kannadiga, I find @HMOIndia @AmitShah’s comment on official language and medium of communication to be deeply offensive. “Hindi is not our national language, and we will never allow it to be,” Siddaramaiah wrote in a tweet with the hashtag “#IndiaAgainstHindiImposition.” “.

The Congress politician asserted that linguistic diversity is the essence of India and that pluralism is what has kept the country together.

The imposition of Hindi is an indication of coercive federalism, not cooperative federalism. “The BJP’s myopic perspective of our languages needs to be addressed, and their views are based on pseudo-nationalists like Savarkar,” he remarked.