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Amid row over Hindi, Kiren Rijiju tweets blast from the past for Congress
Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju pitched for Hindi as a unifying language.
Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday waded into the controversy over Hindi as India’s national language tweeting a short clip of former home minister P Chidambaram saying that he hopes efforts to make Hindi as the country’s national language would continue.
In his tweet, Rijiju pitched for Hindi as a “unifying language”.
“This video is only for Congress leaders. THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES ACT, 1963 and “Hindi Diwas” started under Congress Govt. Now, what’s the problem with Congress party? Let’s respect all the languages of India and also accept Hindi as a unifying language of India,” he wrote on Twitter and attached an old video of Chidambaram.
He also took a swipe at the Congress, remarking in Hindi, “Stand of Congress party on Hindi language. Now, tell this to your coalition partners.”
Rijiju’s tweet came a day after the Congress reacted to Union home minister Amit Shah’s tweet that Hindi can unite the country by warning the government against stirring up controversies over “emotive and sensitive issues” and against tinkering with the three-language formula.
While Hindi and English are India’s two official languages, the country does not have a national language.
Shah’s tweet on Saturday on Hindi Diwas triggered a firestorm of protest in South India with leaders from almost all parties in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka warning against imposing Hindi as a national language.
The protests were not confined only to non-BJP parties. On Monday, Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa also took to Twitter to say that Kannada is the principal language of the state and they would never compromise its importance.
