Rajnath Singh has a language problem, slams English

English language has caused "great loss" to India and people are forgetting their culture because of it, says the BJP president just as party sets out to woo the youth. He mourns the decline of Sanskrit. | POLL: Has the English language helped India?

English language has caused "great loss" to India and people are forgetting their culture because of it. That is BJP president Rajnath Singh's view.

"The English language has caused a great loss to the country. We are losing our language, our culture as there are hardly any people who speak Sanskrit now," Singh was quoted by TV channels as saying at a function in New Delhi on Thursday.

"English language has caused a great lot of loss to India. We have started forgetting our religion and culture these days. There are only 14,000 people left in this country speaking in Sanskrit. Knowledge acquired out of English is not harmful but the anglicization penetrated into youths in this country is dangerous,” said Singh, according to ABP TV.

"We are losing our language, our culture as there are hardly any people who speak Sanskrit now," Rajnath reportedly said.

Congress leader Manish Tewari, in response, commented on Twitter the BJP leader's statements about the English language were a "paradox". "Paradox--BJP outsources vison document to anglesiced policywonks while ranting English caused great loss to India," Tewari tweeted.

Singh's statement may cause a controversy just when its gearing up for the 2014 election campaign. As many as 11 party committees are to set up to focus on various aspects of electioneering, including reaching out to the youth.