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‘No place in the country if you don’t speak Hindi’: UP minister Sanjay Nishad stokes row
The Nishad party chief also alleged that some people are trying to vitiate the atmosphere by refusing to speak Hindi.
Uttar Pradesh fisheries minister Sanjay Nishad stoked a controversy by saying that people who didn’t love Hindi would be assumed to be foreigners and those who didn’t speak the language should leave the country, drawing sharp responses from opposition parties.
The minister is the chief of Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal, commonly referred to as the NISHAD party, which is an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“Those who want to live in India will have to love Hindi. If you do not love Hindi, it will be assumed that you are a foreigner or are linked to foreign powers. We respect regional languages, but this country is one, and India’s Constitution says that India is ‘Hindustan’ which means a place for Hindi speakers,” he told reporters in Lucknow on Thursday.
“Hindustan is not a place for those who do not speak Hindi. They should leave this country and go somewhere else,” he added.
Nishad’s remarks were in response to a media query on the language debate which recently got reignited after a Twitter exchange between Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn and Kannada actor Kicha Sudeep.
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The minister continued: “While I have respect for all regional languages, Hindi is the national language as per the law. Anyone who violates the law should be put behind bars, no matter how big a politician or powerful he or she is.”
The NISHAD party chief also alleged that some people are trying to vitiate the atmosphere by refusing to speak Hindi. “Such elements are trying to create tension in the country… but the people will give them a befitting reply,” he said.
To be sure, the Constitution gives no language the status of ‘national language’. The Eighth Schedule lists 22 ‘Official Languages’. The Official Languages Act, 1963, designates English and Hindi for use for official purposes of the Union government.
Also Read | On Ajay Devgn-Sudeep's 'Hindi is national language' row, Kannada leaders unite
Opposition parties hit out at the minister over his remarks.
Samajwadi Party national spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi said: “I love Hindi. It is my mother tongue. But I also respect people who love their own mother tongue. The idea is all about tolerance. Diversity in languages has to be celebrated. Everybody is an Indian irrespective of the language she speaks. The Indian Constitution recognizes dozens of languages. No Indian (who doesn’t speak Hindi) need not go anywhere because India will always accommodate diversities of language, food habits, dresses and ideas,” he said.
A Bahujan Samaj Party leader, on condition of anonymity, said the BJP and its alliance partners were trying to raise the language debate to divert attention from issues like price rise, unemployment, power cuts and farmers’ problems among others.
Also Read | Ajay Devgn-Kiccha Sudeep Twitter spat: Kannada star finds support in his peers
The state BJP refused to agree with the minister.
“Hindi is a national language and unites the country. Even Mahatma Gandhi and Ram Manohar Lohia supported Hindi as a national language. However, the minister’s statement that people who do not know Hindi should leave the country is wrong. India is a multilingual country, the people should have respect for all languages,” state unit spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said.
