No proposal to make Hindi main language: Govt

To a question asked by Tamil Nadu MP Vaiko (MDMK) on whether “the minister has announced one nation one language for India and Hindi will be the single language”, MoS (Home) G Kishen Reddy said, “There is no proposal for one nation one language.”

“The Constitution accords equal importance to all the languages of the country. Language matters are in the Concurrent List of the Constitution of India and are within the executive spheres of the Central government and the respective state governments,” Reddy said.

To another question on whether government was considering bringing one card for all utilities, Reddy replied, “At present there is no proposal for one card for all utilities.”

In September, while speaking at a Registrar General of India event, Shah had proposed the idea of a multipurpose card for citizens with all utilities such as Aadhaar, passport, ration card, driving licence, and others. “We can have just one card for all utilities like Aadhaar, passport, bank account, driving licence, voter card. This is a potential,” he had said.

Shah had in the same month pushed for the idea of ‘One Nation, One Language’ with Hindi as the choice. After attending an event organised to commemorate Hindi Diwas by the Department of Languages of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Shah tweeted, “India is a country of different languages. Every language has its own importance. But is absolutely essential that the entire country has one language that becomes the identity of the nation in the world. If there is any language that can tie the whole country in one thread, it is the most spoken language of Hindi.”

Even though Shah qualified his statement that promotion of Hindi would not be at the cost of other local languages, his statements drew sharp reactions from opposition parties, particularly those from south India. While CPM called it an attack on the core principles of India’s diversity, Karnataka Congress leader Rajeev Gowda reminded the BJP that Article 29 of the Constitution honoured multiple languages.

Promotion of Hindi as India’s national language is an old ideological project of the Sangh Parivar and the BJP. Staunch loyalty to this ideological position has even proved to be a roadblock for the BJP in expanding its influence in southern states that have strong local language roots and sentiments.

The MHA’s latest assertion also comes in the backdrop of repeated praise by PM Narendra Modi of various languages, in particular, Tamil. In several of his recent speeches, Modi has made a conscious effort to speak Tamil and reinforce cultural motifs from the region.

The symbolism of it all has been interpreted in the context of the BJP’s push to make inroads into Tamil Nadu.