Home Minister Amit Shah opined that India needs Hindi to ensure inclusivity, and the non-Hindi speaking states responded furiously – and they were fiery, witty and some memes being outright hilarious.
The Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments on “One Nation, One Language” during an event celebrating ‘Hindi Diwas’ on the 14th of September have sparked quite a bit of controversy. HM Amit Shah’s speech opined that there’s a need to impose Hindi as the official language in all states to bring the entire country under one umbrella.
While the speech created hardly a hype in the Hindi heartlands belt, east, west and south, it’s created quite a frenzy in the non-Hindi speaking states. Furthermore, the words of the Home Minister were vehemently condemned under the (#HindiImposition) by the citizens from the Peninsular South and the North East parts of India.
आज हिंदी दिवस के अवसर पर मैं देश के सभी नागरिकों से अपील करता हूँ कि हम अपनी-अपनी मातृभाषा के प्रयोग को बढाएं और साथ में हिंदी भाषा का भी प्रयोग कर देश की एक भाषा के पूज्य बापू और लौह पुरूष सरदार पटेल के स्वप्प्न को साकार करने में योगदान दें।
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) September 14, 2019
हिंदी दिवस की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं
At the Hindi Diwas event, Amit Shah had said that India is a multi-lingual country with different dialects, but it is significantly essential for India to have a common language as it provides you with an identity in the world. Shah further said that every child of North-East would learn Hindi.
But then there grew a force on Social Media against Hindi Imposition
Social media is today playing a significant role in the realm of ‘freedom of expression’. Consequently, it has become a major force today in the way citizens are reacting to the political developments in India. The platforms are helping folks show their solidarity or antipathy towards any political or socio-economic issue.
Likewise, the speech from the Home Minister was quickly followed by Twitter frenzy as the #StopHindiImposition gained fire. So, here are the best responses we could gather at one place from the different, diverse, non-Hindi speaking citizens that make up the actual ‘Major’ part of India.
From the Maratha Land
Tamils were the Funniest
Telugu came out hot
Telugu is our mother tongue and we would never accept the imposition of Hindi on us. Would u be ok if we impose Telugu or any other language except Hindi ? https://t.co/ZbyHKqGN20
— Aditya (@ausmaverick29) September 14, 2019
Assamese joined in with some sarcasm
None are as witty as the Bengalis
Kannada folks won’t be left behind
Some debate from Arunachal Pradesh
You are articulating the mainland fantasy about Arunachal. It is not true. The Hindi spoken in NE is a creole version. We very much prefer our own mother tongues thank you. Nobody feels “proud” of Hindi here. Its an imposition.
— Dimpy Bora (@bora_dimpy) September 15, 2019
Malayalis tickled the funny bone too
And we never knew that about Odias
Gujaratis were insightful
On a more Serious Note
Apart from the witty Twitterati, a number of political parties are also opposing the comments and denouncing the views. On a more serious note, such a move might dissolve the fundamental formula of “unity in diversity”. A formula which has been followed since independence and has bound the multi-cultural and multi-lingual states into a single nation.
There is no doubt that Hindi is the most widely spoken language in India. But the view that the language will keep the country united hardly holds water. Moreover, India is a nation of many different cultures with its foundation based on diversity. Thus, the secularity in the precedent set by the founding fathers is the essence of inclusivity.
