H.D. Kumaraswamy accuses Centre of imposing Hindi Divas across country

Slamming the Union government for “imposing” Hindi Divas on non-Hindi-speaking people in the country, former Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Monday said Hindi Divas was a symbol of linguistic arrogance.

In a series of tweets, he said Hindi was neither a national language nor the aspiration of the Constitution. “However, there are attempts to portray Hindi as a national language and there have been attempts in the past to politicise it. This has reached new heights now. Hindi imposition should stop before the people of the country rise against it.”

“Learning is being used to impose Hindi. Learning should be optional, not imposed. The imposition of one language should not lead to the decline of another. It should not affect the country’s culture, diversity, and integrity,” he said.

Hindi Divas is being observed on the birth anniversary of Beohar Rajendra Sinha, who fought for the implementation of Hindi, he said, adding that for the speakers of other languages there was nothing to cheer about Hindi becoming the administrative language. “Hindi Divas should be cancelled,” the JD(S) leader concluded.

Mr. Kumaraswamy also said that if Hindi Divas had to be observed, the Centre should observe regional language days, including one for Kannada, across India. “November 1 should be declared and observed as Kananda Day,” he said.

Pointing out that the three-language learning introduced in the National Education Policy (NEP) was also a way to impose Hindi, he asked what was wrong in having two languages. “Which Hindi-speaking State has a three-language policy in the country? Why is the three-language policy introduced in non-Hindi-speaking States?” he asked.

He also claimed that efforts were being made to merge Hindi with Hindutva.