English not a shame, but power: Opposition
The comments came a day after Union home minister Amit Shah said that India’s culture and history could not be fully understood through “foreign languages”
Several opposition leaders on Friday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological fount, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), for discouraging the learning of English to deny India’s poor the tools to question authority and access opportunity and called the language a “link” across the country.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that English plays a crucial role in instilling confidence and enhancing employment prospects, just like one’s mother tongue.
“English is not a dam, but a bridge. English is not a shame, but power. English is not a chain, but a tool to break the chains. The BJP and RSS do not want poor kids of India to learn English because they do not want you to ask questions, move ahead and become equal,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha wrote on X as he shared a video criticising the RSS for opposing the widespread use of English.
“[RSS chief] Mohan Bhagwat says every day to not speak in English but in Hindi. But, if you look at the kids of those in the RSS and the BJP, everyone goes to England for studies… What is the thought behind it? Because they do not want you to enter the board rooms, or for you to get high-paying jobs. They want to go to English schools, carry on with their contracts… They want to keep the doors closed for you,” he could be heard saying in the video from a public event.
In his post, which he wrote in Hindi, Gandhi underlined the role of English and native languages as a means of empowerment. “Every language of India has soul, culture, and knowledge. We have to cherish them, and at the same time, teach English to every child. This is the path to an India that competes with the world and gives every child an equal opportunity,” he said.
The comments came a day after Union home minister Amit Shah said that India’s culture and history could not be fully understood through “foreign languages”, calling for a return to Indian languages to preserve cultural integrity.
Speaking at a book launch on Thursday, Shah said “those who speak English will soon feel ashamed”.
His comments invoked criticism from Kerala ministers R Bindu and V Sivankutty, who said that the remarks indicate a “restrictive and narrow-minded” political view and are “condemnable”.
Bindu, the state higher education minister, said that English is the most widely used language across the world to communicate with each other and also on the internet. “The view that children should not learn English or that it will be embarrassing would only lead to their world becoming more restrictive. Moreover, India is not an isolated island in the world. So, learning English is becoming a necessity,” she said.
State general education minister V Sivankutty termed Shah’s remarks as “condemnable” and said that “no language was higher or lower than another”.
Communist Party of India (CPI) MP Sandosh Kumar said that Shah’s statement “is a deliberate attempt to stigmatise India’s linguistic diversity and push the RSS-BJP’s cultural majoritarianism”.
“English functions as India’s link language, bridging regions and enabling access to education, employment, and global opportunity. To attack it is to attack the aspirations of the people, especially the youth and marginalised,” the MP said.
Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose called the comments “preposterous”. “. English is a link language across India, its aspirational, confers a global advantage and knowledge of English is demanded by millions. Indians should not be “ashamed” of ANY language,” she said in a post on X.
TMC’s Derek O’Brien said India has 22 constitutionally recognised languages and 19,500 languages and dialects and this is the “unity in diversity” of the country.
In a video statement, the TMC parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha said 97% people use one of the recognised languages as their mother tongue as he accused the Centre of not understanding this.
“In India, 97% people use one of the 22 constitutionally recognised languages as their mother tongue. 19,500 languages and dialects are used as mother tongues. This is the ‘unity in diversity’ of our great nation. Amit Shah, PM Narendra Modi and gang will never understand this,” O’Brien said.
HT reached out to BJP leaders for a comment, but did not receive any at the time of going to print.
